LIVELIHOOD AID. Former overseas Filipino worker Amelie Rimorin (left) shares how she used the livelihood assistance she received from the Department of Migrant Workers after she settled back in the country in 2022, during the Bagong Pilipinas press briefing in Baguio City on Tuesday (Sept. 3, 2024). The department has provided livelihood assistance to 170 former overseas Filipino workers based in the Cordillera region since 2022. (PNA photo by Liza T. Agoot)
BAGUIO CITY – The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) has provided livelihood assistance to 170 former overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) based in the Cordillera region from 2022 till the first quarter of this year.
During the Bagong Pilipinas press briefing here Tuesday, Helen Liu, DMW-Cordillera director, said at least 53 were assisted in 2022, while 65 were aided in 2023 and 52 in the first quarter of this year.
She said they also provide OFW and former OFW clients with other assistance, among them medical, burial, and repatriation services.
Lawyer Jeffrey Exiomo, DMW-Cordillera Employment Adjudicator said, “We adjust the assistance based on the needs of the clients.”
“We adjust so that we can make the government assistance more effective and beneficial to the members,” he said.
Ease of getting assistance
Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) - Cordillera Director Martel Dasayon, in the same press conference, said they have established welfare desks in various local government units to be more accessible to clients.
“We partner with local government units because they are on the grassroots and we are hoping also to have migrant workers desks at the barangays (villages) because we understand that some of the clients have to walk for several hours before they can reach the municipalities,” he said.
He said they also have a “Tulong Puso” livelihood assistance to groups of OFWs who want to go into business.
He also cited the establishment of the OFW Family Circle, composed of relatives of OFWs, and the OFW Children’s Circle, which serves as a support system for the children.
“They have similar experiences and they can help each other by being each other’s counselor. Most of the time, the children who are led astray simply need an outlet and the OFW children’s group assist each other,” he added.
Benefits for former overseas workers
Amelia Rimorin, 65, who worked for 20 years as a domestic helper overseas is among the beneficiaries of the government’s livelihood assistance for the sector.
She used the PHP10,000 livelihood assistance to buy a sewing machine, which she uses to make bags she designs and sells online.
She makes at least 15 bags a week.
“Kahit papaano hindi ako umaasa para sa lahat ng pangangailangan ko sa mga anak ko dahil may mga sarili din silang buhay (At least I don’t depend solely on my children because they also have their own lives),” she added. (PNA)
