Jobs, aid await OFWs from war-torn Ukraine

MANILA, Philippines — Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Ukraine can opt for re-employment or livelihood assistance when they decide to come home, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) said yesterday.

“Given the crisis they experienced in Ukraine, they should come home and spend time with their family. Then we will help them whether with re-employment or livelihood,” OWWA chief Hans Cacdac said in Filipino and English.

Cacdac said the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) would assist the returning OFWs in finding new jobs abroad while the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is there for those who would choose local employment.

He added that OFWs from Ukraine may also avail of cash aid and college scholarships.

Almost 50 OFWs have returned home from Ukraine, Cacdac said, including 21 Filipino seafarers of bulk carrier M/V S-Breeze who arrived yesterday at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 aboard Philippine Airlines flight PR659 via Dubai.

OWWA director Regina Galias said the seafarers each received P10,000 cash assistance.

A Filipino mother and her child from Bucharest, Romania, who were among the early Filipinos who crossed the Ukrainian border to Moldova, also arrived at NAIA on Monday night.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) also confirmed that another batch of 13 Filipino seafarers aboard Star Helena are now in Moldova after fleeing Chornomorsk, Ukraine.

For Filipinos near the southern border of Ukraine, the Philippine embassy in Budapest deployed a team while the Philippine embassy in Warsaw sent a team in Lviv, Ukraine.

More Filipinos from Ukraine via Poland, Hungary and other European countries are expected to come home after the government ordered mandatory repatriation.

Cacdac added OWWA is working closely with the DFA in repatriating Filipino workers from war-torn Ukraine, as there are still OFWs who are reluctant to leave, fearing the loss of livelihood.

Meanwhile, former foreign affairs secretary Albert del Rosario yesterday urged the government to join the international community in condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, warning that a successful takeover will “further embolden China to likewise use force to seize the West Philippine Sea from the Philippines.”

“The Philippines must take concrete actions in joining the international community in condemning Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and making Russian President Vladimir Putin and his supporters understand the real consequences in committing such an illegal and despicable act,” Del Rosario said. – Rudy Santos, Pia Lee-Brago, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Emmanuel Tupas