THE Overseas Workers Welfare Administration-Davao Region (OWWA-Davao) expects the number of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) returning to the region to increase as the conflict in the Middle East continues.
Mohammad I. Victor, Owwa-Davao regional director, said that based on their monitoring, a total of 526 OFWs have arrived at the Davao City International Airport (DIA) following the conflict in the Middle East. Most of the OFWs came from Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.
Of the 526 OFWs, 26 were given financial assistance amounting to P10,000 each. Victor explained that the other 500 OFWs had already received cash assistance upon their arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Asked whether the cash assistance is enough, Victor said the P10,000 is intended to help OFWs meet their basic needs, as well as those of their families, upon their arrival in the Philippines.
Apart from free tickets provided to repatriated OFWs, they also receive P10,000 in cash assistance from Owwa. They also receive assistance from the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda).
The government also offers reintegration programs through the DMW and Owwa, including livelihood opportunities.
Under Owwa, the Tulong Pangkabuhayan sa Pag-unlad ng Samahang OFWs (Tulong PUSO) provides a one-time livelihood grant of up to P1 million to registered groups or organizations of OFWs for their businesses.
“Makaka-asa po yung mga OFW na pagbalik po nila dito nandiyan yung ang pamahalaan na matulungan silang ma reintegrate doon sa community through livelihood kahit saan po nila gusto nilang paraan mag reintegrate sa community,” he said during the Kapehan sa Dabaw on July 20, 2026, at SM City Davao.
(Our OFWs can count on the government to be there for them when they return home, helping them reintegrate into their communities through livelihood opportunities or any other means they choose to support their reintegration.)
Nationwide, more than 10,000 OFWs have been repatriated since the war broke out in the Middle East. RGP
