DMW gives financial aid to 4 OFW-LET teachers

THE Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) released P80,000 financial assistance to four teachers who opted to stay and teach in local schools instead of returning to their respective workplaces abroad.

DMW OIC-Regional Director Adam Musa handed over the P20,000 in checks to the four teacher recipients during the "Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas" at a local hotel on Tuesday, September 3, 2024.

Musa said the financial assistance, granted through SPIMS, is intended to help the teachers, who are former Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), defray expenses on their needs in teaching.

SPIMS, which stands for Sa Pinas Ikaw ang Ma’am at Sir, is a reintegration program, a collaborative effort between DMW, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, the Department of Labor and Employment, and the Department of Education.

The program targets OFW-Licensure Examination for Teachers passers, offering them a pathway to employment in public schools as teachers.

“For now, it is a one-time financial assistance. We are studying the possibility of providing them financial aid every year for the next two to three years,” Musa told Sun Star in an interview.

Three of the four recipients of the financial assistance are from Zamboanga City and the other one from Dipolog City, Zamboanga del Norte.

They are Rosemelita Macahidhid, 44; Roel Feliciano, 40; and, Valen Grace Pioquinto, of Zamboanga City, and Ester Contioso, 50, of Dipolog City.

Macahidhid and Feliciano, have taught in China for 16 and 14 years, respectively, while Pioquinto for two years in Canada and Contioso worked as home-based caregiver for six years in Kuwait.

Macahidhid and Pioquinto are presently teaching at Villa Vista Elementary School in Cabaluay, Zamboanga City while Feliciano at a National High School in Lubigan, also in Zamboanga City, and Contioso in Katipunan, Zamboanga del Norte.

Macahidhid and Feliciano were supposed to return to their teaching posts in China in 2020 but failed brought about the lockdown imposed during the Corona Virus Disease 2019 pandemic.

They opted to avail of the SPIM program and teach locally while taking advance courses to further their career.

“Actually, our employer is still communicating us asking when are we going to return to our teaching posts,” Cahidhid said in an interview.

“We are lucky, we are treated well by our employer” Cahidhid and Feliciano said citing they were given free housing and two meals daily except for the water and electricity usage.

The other benefit of Cahidhid and Feliciano is free round-trip ticket aside from high salary.

Contioso said she opted to avail of SPIMS since it is difficult to be a home-based caregiver.

Meanwhile, Musa said that around 200 OFW-LET passers have availed of the SPIMS program in Zamboanga Peninsula. Most of them are from Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur.

“Since January, this year, more than 50 OFW-LET passers have already availed of the program in the region,” he added. (SunStar Zamboanga)