A TOTAL of 49 distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their families received 10 kilos of rice each during a relief distribution held on Tuesday, June 30, 2026, at the Public Employment Service Office (Peso) in Lapu-Lapu City, with Mayor Ma. Cynthia “Cindi” King-Chan leading the distribution.
Peso manager Kim Francisco, in an interview with reporters, said most of the displaced workers were repatriated after the ongoing conflict in the Middle East forced them to leave their jobs due to safety concerns, while others returned because of health-related issues.
“Tungod sa atong nasinati nga Middle East conflict, daghan nga OFWs ang naapektuhan. Ang uban niini napugos og uli kay dili na gyud safe ang lugar nga ilang gitrabahuan,” Francisco said.
(Because of the conflict we experienced in the Middle East, many OFWs were affected. Some of them were forced to return home because the places where they worked were no longer safe).
He added that family members of the affected OFWs sought assistance from Peso, while others reached out to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and the Department of Migrant Workers before the agencies consolidated the list of beneficiaries for the city’s relief distribution.
Scammed
One of the displaced workers is a 29-year-old father, who worked as a customer service representative (CSR) in Cambodia but returned to Cebu after unknowingly becoming involved in a love scam operation.
“Natambay mi didto kay wala man among passport. Dili mi kagawas-kawas kay mahadlok mi dakpon sa police (We were stranded there because our passports had been withheld. We couldn’t go out because we were afraid the police would arrest us),” he recalled.
He added that he first responded to a Facebook advertisement for what was presented as a CSR position offering a salary of US$1,000.
He later discovered that the company was operating a love scam scheme.
He left for Cambodia in September 2025, but within three months authorities raided the company. He sought assistance from the Philippine Embassy after he and his fellow workers were left stranded.
He eventually returned to Cebu on June 10, 2026, through the assistance of the Philippine Embassy.
Looking back on his experience, he urged Filipinos seeking employment abroad to carefully verify online job offers before accepting them to avoid becoming victims of fraudulent recruitment schemes. / Sheryn Mae C. Sinoy, UV Intern
