By Vanne Elaine Terrazola The Senate will be looking into the government's responses on the plight of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Senator Joel Villanueva (CZAR DANCEL / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) Sen. Joel Villanueva, chairman of the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment, and Human Resources Development, said on Sunday that the government's treatment of OFWs will be one of the issues to be discussed in the hearing that will be conducted by his committee. "The way we have been treating our workers, especially our OFWs returning home, falls short of how we are profuse in heralding them as our 'bagong bayani' (modern-day heroes)," Villanueva lamented. "We don’t leave our heroes begging on the streets and making them wait until they drop dead of hunger or depression. These deaths are avoidable if only our government extended more compassion to the plight of our OFWs and acted with dispatch and sense of urgency," he added. Villanueva said OFWs were the most affected by the global trend of unemployment due to the pandemic. He said the government "must further intensify and expand the implementation of reintegration programs for their smooth transition back to the country." Among other interventions, he said skills training by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) must be provided to the OFWs to "become more employable or seek a new venture through entrepreneurship." Aside from TESDA, VIllanueva also called on the Department of Labor and Employment to strengthen its coordination with different industries to determine the current labor demand. "Matching the needs of the labor market is an effective way to reduce unemployment in the country," he said. "We implore our agencies to empathize with our OFWs. Let us not dismiss those taking their chance by camping out at bus stations and airport terminals because they long to be with their families, especially in these troubled times," Villanueva appealed. "Kalingahin natin sila, at huwag ipagwalang-bahala (We should take care of them and not neglect them). Bawat minutong antala, lumalala ang sitwasyon nila (For every minute of delay, their situation gets worse). Huwag po natin sana silang ipagtulakan sa kawalan ng pag-asa (We should not push them to hopelessness)," he added.