THE DEPARTMENT of Migrant Workers (DMW) on Wednesday said it will continue to provide assistance to stranded Filipino workers, including travel arrangements and contacting employers, after their flights were canceled on Jan. 1 due to a glitch in the country’s air control system.
“We will continue to man our airports and support our OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) until they get their flights rebooked,” DMW Undersecretary Hans Leo J. Cacdac told a televised briefing.
“As of now, we will continue accommodating those with rebooked flights.”
In an advisory dated Jan. 3, Migrant Workers Secretary Maria Susana V. Ople ordered all private recruitment and manning agencies to assist OFWs affected by the flight disruptions that occurred on Jan. 1.
The DMW has assisted at least 3,000 overseas Filipino Workers who were stranded at different airports across the country, Mr. Cacdac said on Tuesday.
Around 200 OFWs are still in hotels waiting for their rebooked flights, he added.
Meanwhile, Mr. Cacdac said the DMW is in talks with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on the deployment of Filipino workers to India.
The Philippines suspended in December the deployment of Filipino workers to the South Asian country for failing to meet standards on the protection of migrant workers.
India is not a signatory to the 1990 United Nations Convention on the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, DMW Undersecretary Bernard P. Olalia said then.
Data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration showed that there are currently less than 2,000 documented temporary Filipino migrants in India.
“We hope the status of deployment to India will be resolved soon which is why we are working closely with the DFA on the matter,” he told the same briefing. — John Victor D. Ordoñez