OWWA assists repatriated Ilocano OFWs from Libya

By Leilanie G. Adriano

Staff reporter

Laoag City—The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) continues to extend assistance to repatriated overseas Filipino workers from war-torn Libya as they also urge all other Filipinos to come home as soon as possible.

Nona Marie Ganal, Ilocos Norte OWWA representative, said another OFW who preferred not to be identified arrived home safely in the province before the current crisis in Libya was upgraded to alert level 4.

With an initial airport assistance from OWWA, the OFW from Batac City voluntarily left Libya.

OWWA is extending all forms of assistance to repatriated Filipino workers from Libya and Iraq. Among the assistance given is the reintegration program for all OFWs, providing them livelihood starter kits to start a new life in the country.

However, Ms. Ganal said most of the repatriated workers want to go back abroad. Hence, they are seeking re-employment but in a safer place.

According to Ms. Ganal, they are monitoring more Ilocano workers from Libya. One of them is from Dingras, Ilocos Norte who is set to go home anytime on the first week of August.

Earlier, a registered nurse from Pinili and a factory worker from San Nicolas were poised to leave for Libya but this was halted by the ban imposed by the government.

“Should they want to avail the OFW program, we would be glad to help them,” Ms. Ganal said.

Under the “Balik-Pinas Balik-Hanapbuhay” project in cooperation with the National Reintegration Center for OFWs (NCRO), the government is readying livelihood and job referral assistance, temporary shelter, medical care and counseling for the concerned OFWs.

The OWWA—together with the Philippines Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), licensed recruitment agencies, and their insurance carriers— focus on ensuring that OFWs affected by instability and political upheavals should be brought home fast, safe and sound.

Earlier, the government organized a Crisis Quick Response Team led by the POEA in coordinating for the issuance of airline tickets to the OFWs within 24 hours. 

The team was created when the current crisis in Libya erupted and is tasked to closely monitor and assess the situation of Filipino workers there and in other crises-hit countries.