President Marcos has vowed to strengthen the retraining programs for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) returning to the country who lost their jobs abroad or could not return for various reasons.

In a speech on the sidelines of his two-day State Visit to Brunei Darussalam, the President said the government is working on reintegrating into the local workforce the OFWs who could not find jobs in the Philippines or have limited options for livelihood.

"We will do the training. But we have to be in partnership with the government," he said, noting that the problem became more pronounced during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Government provides incentives, provides better opportunities for our workers so that they learn new skills and that are relevant to the modern, post-pandemic economy,” he added.

President Marcos cited the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) Project, a program for workers who lost their jobs for various reasons.

“We had to find jobs for the OFWs that had come back,” he said.

“And not only our OFWs, our working population in the Philippines [too]," he added.

Marcos added that the government has allotted a bigger budget to absorb the displaced or retired OFWs who still like to work. The government has also improved the retraining, upskilling, and reskilling of OFWs.

“We provide outright support in the meantime and at the same time there are livelihood programs that are available to them,” the President said.

President Marcos also noted that the government has many joint programs with the private sector, citing the maritime industry as an example.

“I’ve also tried very hard to strengthen the side of employment because there are a lot of livelihood programs,” he said.