TWENTY-one overseas Filipino workers
(OFW) nurses, assistant nurses, and medical workers from Kuwait are the initial
beneficiaries of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)-led Assist WELL
Program whose primary objective is to extend immediate assistance to returning
OFWs who are displaced due to war or other distressful situations or economic
problems in countries where they work, or are victims of calamities, epidemics,
and labor problems. Assist WELL is acronym for Welfare, Employment, Legal and
Livelihood program for returning OFWs. The 21 Filipino migrant workers are the
first recipients of the program when it was launched last week at the
Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) building in Ortigas, Pasig
City.
The returning female OFWs were met
by OWWA at the NAIA in coordination with the Philippine Overseas Labor Office
(POLO) in Kuwait.
“Hindi
nasunod ang nakasaad sa pinirmahan naming kontrata kaya nagdesisyon kami na
umuwi na lang ng Pilipinas,” these are the words the returning OFWs who
supposedly applied for employment in a hospital in Kuwait as nurses, assistant
nurses, and medical workers, but ended up as care givers instead.
According to OWWA Administrator
Rebecca J. Calzado, who met the female OFWs when they were brought to OWWA
Center in Pasay City, the remaining eight OFWs who have no relatives in Manila
will be temporarily accommodated at the OWWA Halfway Home, before proceeding to
their respective provinces. Out of the eight OFWs, five are from Mindanao,
while the rest are from the Visayas and Luzon.
The affected workers narrated about
their work experience and the reason why they opted to be repatriated. One of
the nurses disclosed that instead of working in a hospital, they were forced to
work in different homes as caregivers depending on the need or call of their
foreign recruitment agency (FRA). Their situation, the OFWs added, was
aggravated when they were paid only for hours worked which is a violation of
their contract. More so, common quarters provided by their FRA served as their
accommodation.
Under the Assist WELL program,
affected workers will be provided temporary shelter. A one-stop-shop processing
center will be established to attend to the immediate needs of OFWs upon their
return to the country. The processing centers will institutionalize the availment
of various assistance provided by DOLE and its attached agencies to OFWs. The
agencies involved are OWWA, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration
(POEA), and the National Reintegration Center for OFWs (NRCO).
Aside from temporary shelter, the
OFWs will also be offered legal assistance, transportation fare, as well as
OWWA’s “Balik-Pinas, Balik-Hanapbuhay” livelihood assistance program. Returning
workers may also be referred by the participating government agencies for local
employment, or in another country of their choice. Other Assist WELL Centers
are located in selected DOLE and OWWA Regional offices nationwide. (OWWA)
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