A TOTAL of 439 repatriation requests for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) from Davao Region were made in 2022, according to the regional Department of Migrant Workers (DMW-Davao) on June 2.
The common reasons behind the repatriation, which is the process of helping an OFW return home, are contract violation and abuse - either physical, sexual, or other forms of abuse.
Based on the data provided by DMW-Davao Regional Director Angela Trinidad, 417 of the repatriation requests were for female OFWs and 22 were male. Most of them were also household service workers or domestic workers.
“Ang uban pud, syempre nahuman na ilang contract, (In other instances, when the contract has ended) and there is refusal from the employers to settle... Naa pud mga repatriation nga (There are also) repatriation of remains due to natural causes or other reasons. Or medical repatriation na mag-uli kay nag sakit (due to illness),” Trinidad said.
However, Trinidad said that it is not easy to immediately repatriate the OFWs as different situations would require various documentation like exit clearances and other requirements depending on the type of repatriation.
Carmelo Elaya, officer-in-charge regional director of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration in Davao Region (Owwa-Davao), said a process of formality is needed before the workers are repatriated.
“Gustuhin man namin na pauwiin agad, may requisites pa (As much as we want them to return home immediately, there are requisites). Naa pud ang ginatawag na ikamang pa, for example sa Middle East, na tan-awon pa gyod sa ilang authorities didto (For example in the Middle East, the authorities would have to check first). Daghan pa kaayo clearances (There are a lot of clearances),” Elaya said.
Based on a previous report, two OFWs were repatriated from Sudan last month due to the ongoing unrest in the country.
The OFWs, both from Tagum City in Davao del Norte, were identified as Silas Jomel Mallari and Hamprey Manipi. According to Owwa, the workers arrived in Davao on May 5.
In line with this, Trinidad advised OFWs to properly process their work papers before going abroad so they could have security or assurance that the employer would shoulder the repatriation of the workers. Otherwise, funds from Owwa or other government offices would be used.
“Kaning kwarta sa Owwa, funds ni sa OFWs (Owwa’s money comes from the OFWs). Kung gamiton sa repatriation, dili magamit para sa programa sa livelihood, educational assistance and uban pa, dili ma-utilize og sakto ang kwarta para sa mga OFWs (if used for repatriation, it won’t be utilized for programs such as livelihood assistance and education),” Trinidad said.
“Ang rason ngano nato ginakampanya na atong mga workers muagi sa legal na proseso sa gobyerno, dili man sa gusto nato sila panghilabtan sa ilang katungod na mutrabaho — apil ang katungod nila mutrabaho sa gawas (The reason why we campaign for the proper process of contracts, not that we want to prevent them from going abroad) but we want to make sure that when they go out, they will be safe and the process is regular and the process they undertook is orderly,” she added.