Gov’t to pay for OFWs’ repatriation from Syria

MANILA, Philippines - The government is shouldering all the expenses for the repatriation of Filipino workers in Syria, including the unserved portion of their employment contracts, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said yesterday.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the move is expected to hasten the repatriation of the remaining 2,000 Filipinos in Syria, many of them undocumented.

“The government already set aside funds for the payment of the unserved portion of the employment contract as well as for plane tickets and all that at no cost to the workers,” she said.

Baldoz said there is no more reason for OFWs not to avail themselves of the government’s mandatory repatriation program.

Some Syrian employers reportedly refused to allow the OFWs to leave, saying they would only issue exit clearance after the workers pay the unserved portion of their employment contract. – With Evelyn Macairan