THE Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) is now offering at least 200,000 overseas jobs orders to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) affected by the war in the Middle East.
In an interview at the sidelines of the National Reintegration Network and Job Fair, Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said alternative destination countries that are not in the Middle East have a total of 200,000 verified job orders.
"We have around 200,000 job orders that we can offer to them. They are mostly in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Americas," said Cacdac.
He said the job orders are equivalent to the available jobs in the Middle East nations.
"We looked at the returning workers and their types of work. They are mostly in the sectors of services, construction, hospitality, medical, and teachers," said Cacdac.
DMW data showed that there are over 4,000 OFWs and their family members that have been repatriated from the Middle East since early March 2026 when war broke out.
But aside from those repatriated from the Middle East, Cacdac said they are also prepared to offer the same assistance to OFWs who were unable to depart due to the ongoing war in the Middle East.
He said they are prepared to assist the stranded OFWs in the Philippines, similar to those offered to repatriated Filipinos.
"We are ready to provide all of them assistance through the programs we are offering," said Cacdac.
He said having OFWs being unable to get deployed or go back to their host countries is not surprising considering the massive effects of the crisis.
"Of course, other sectors abroad are also affected by the war, so we advise them not to leave if they have no job to return to. Having said that, when the situation subsides, they can still go back abroad," said Cacdac.
Earlier, the recruitment sector bared that around 40,000 OFWs bound for different Middle East nations are now staying in accommodation centers of their deploying agencies or have been sent back to their provinces as they are unable to get deployed abroad. (Anton Banal/SunStar Philippines)