THE Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) vowed to provide free skills training to returning Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) especially those who recently repatriated from Kuwait.
Tesda Secretary Guiling “Gene” Mamondiong, in a press conference Friday, said that they already have a standing order from President Rodrigo Duterte to make interventions for returning OFWs and provide them with the needed skills training for their livelihood or should they want to venture into business while in the country.
“Last year pa yong instruction ng ating pangulo na lahat ng umuuwing OFW ay bibigyan ng skills training,” he said.
Tesda has emergency skills training program (ESTP), a quick response training intervention for marginalized sectors including distressed OFWS who returned from Middle East. It was launched last year and also covers scholarship grants for drug dependents and their families, immediate relatives of policemen or soldiers who died in the line of duty, family members of traffic enforcers and the marginalized sector.
“Nag-umpisa na po ang skills training natin lahat ng pinapauwi na OFW ay bibigyan ng skill ng Tesda, libre po ito. Hindi lang libre bibigyan din natin sila ng allowance,” he said.
The President mandated Tesda to give special treatment to displaced OFWs, thus, they provided them also with food and transportation allowance.
Early this month, some 400 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Kuwait arrived in Manila. The first batches of migrant workers were granted amnesty by the Kuwaiti government.
President Duterte announced a total ban on the deployment of Filipinos to Kuwait after the body of OFW Joanna Daniela Dimafelis was found inside a freezer in an abandoned flat in the Arab nation and believed to be maltreated due to bruises and marks on her body.
Duterte also asked Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific to shoulder the expenses of OFWs from Kuwait who seek to return to the country.
"We do not seek special treatment or privileges for our workers but we do expect respect for their dignity and basic human rights. Keep them free from harm. I implore you. I ask all Arab people, the Filipino is no slave to anyone, anywhere and everywhere," the President said.