DESPITE the government’s campaign for Filipinos to work in the country, there were more then 60,000 Filipinos who left via the Mactan-Cebu International Airport to work in other countries.
In a press conference, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) 7 Director Evelia Durato said that overseas Filipino worker (OFW) departures in Central Visayas will surely increase with the opening of Panglao International Airport in Bohol.
Aside from an additional international airport, the sending of OFWs to Libya, which was suspended by the Philippines when the Libyan government was overthrown, has already been reopened, with conditions.
“Our mandate is to ensure OFWs depart with fair contracts with foreign employers. But we are also running after illegal recruiters. We have arrested several illegal recruiters in the past with the help of the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) and Philippine National Police (PNP),” said Durato. There are problems of OFWs in the job sites, but still, Central Visayas has recorded about 61,397 OFWs who departed for several countries for 2018 alone, through MCIA.”
She said they only allowed legally recruited OFWs with work contracts to depart.
Of the 61,397 OFWs who departed in 2018, 58,107 are land-based and 3,290 are sea-based.
Among the top OFW destinations are Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, China, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. (EOB)