ILOILO — The Iloilo provincial government has ordered a province-wide accounting of Ilonggo overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in France and activated round-the-clock emergency hotlines amid growing tensions in the European country over soaring living costs and inflation.
The Office of the Provincial Public Employment Service Manager (OPPESM) has directed Public Employment Service Office (PESO) managers in Iloilo’s 42 municipalities and component city of Passi to identify residents working in France and determine their safety and welfare through their families at the barangay level.
Provincial Public Employment Service Manager Dr. Cynthia P. Dario said the government was taking precautionary measures to ensure that Ilonggo workers could immediately access assistance should the unrest threaten their safety, employment or livelihood.
“As of the latest monitoring, however, no Ilonggo OFW in France has sought emergency assistance or reported being adversely affected by the situation,” Dario said.
The provincial government has mobilized its Task Force Bulig Ilonggo to respond to possible requests for assistance, including the repatriation of workers who may wish to return to the Philippines.
Dario explained that OFWs requesting help would first be assessed to determine their circumstances and whether they wanted to be repatriated.
For those seeking repatriation, the provincial government would coordinate with the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to facilitate their return.
Returning Ilonggo workers may also receive financial assistance, livelihood support, skills training and psychosocial interventions to help them recover from displacement and reintegrate into their communities.
P10,000 assistance for displaced OFWs
The provincial government has an existing financial assistance program under Provincial Ordinance No. 2020-245, which provides P10,000 to qualified repatriated Ilonggo OFWs.
The assistance covers workers displaced from employment because of political unrest, civil war, natural calamities, maltreatment by foreign employers, sickness or accidents in their host countries.
The program is intended to provide immediate financial relief to returning workers who have lost their sources of income under circumstances beyond their control.
Dario urged Ilonggo OFWs currently in France, as well as their relatives residing in Iloilo, to communicate with the provincial government and provide updates on their situation.
The following emergency hotlines are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week:
0998-990-5663, 0917-754-3833, 0910-005-4682, 0916-758-3156, 0995-931-0922, 0917-881-7808 and 0961-680-4428.
Messages may also be sent through Viber and WhatsApp.
Aside from maintaining the emergency communication channels, Dario has instructed local PESO managers to coordinate with barangay officials and families of overseas workers to establish whether residents are currently employed in France and assess their conditions.
The barangay-level monitoring initiative is intended to help provincial authorities identify potentially vulnerable workers even before formal requests for assistance are received./PN
