House to probe repatriation of stranded OFWs amid COVID-19 pandemic

The House of Representatives will hold on Friday an inquiry into the repatriation of thousands of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who are still stranded in other countries and even in areas outside their hometowns in the Philippines.

The House Committee on Public Accounts, chaired by Anakalusugan party-list Representative Mike Defensor, will conduct the investigation.

“Consistent with the directive of Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano in the case of the social amelioration program, we want to look into the problems plaguing the repatriation of our workers overseas, who have lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and find solutions,” Defensor said in a statement on Wednesday.

The House, he said, will gather all the concerned officials in order to address issues related to the return of displaced and distressed OFWs.

According to Defensor, House leaders are puzzled as to why it is taking the concerned agencies too long to bring back stranded OFWs home.

“We have thousands of them in Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East and Europe who have been waiting to return home since the coronavirus outbreak,” he said.

“What are the agencies’ problems in trying to get them home? Are there no planes that can be chartered to fly them? Are there no government planes or ships that could be used? Are there sufficient repatriation and related funds? These are some of the questions we want answered,” he added.

Defensor pointed out that the hundreds of Filipinos who have died in Saudi Arabia should be among those who should be immediately flown to the Philippines.

“The agencies cannot even agree on the number of fatalities. The labor department reported that there are about 280, while our embassy in Saudi Arabia claimed in a television report that there are more than 350, 100 of whom have died due to COVID-19,” he said.

Defensor likewise lamented the situation of many OFWs who had to sleep at the airport and other nearby areas while waiting for their flights that will take them to their home provinces.

“The sight of hundreds sleeping under the NAIA tollway for days before the Army took pity on them and offered them temporary shelter does not speak well of the agencies that should be attending to them,” he said.

“Again, we ask, are there no Air Force planes or Navy or Coast Guard vessels that could transport our workers to their provinces in Mindanao and Visayas?” he added.

Among those invited to Friday’s hearing are officials of the Department of Labor and Employment, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, the inter-agency task force against COVID-19, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Transportation, some ambassadors assigned to the Middle East, and OFW representatives. --KBK, GMA News