Over 340 overseas Filipino workers (OFW), who fell victims to scam hubs in Myanmar, are set to be repatriated on Wednesday by the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) and other concerned government agencies.
President Ferdinand Marcos ordered the said agencies to prioritize bringing home the said distressed OFWs to help them recover from their ordeal in Myanmar.
The said OFWs were among those, who were rescued by law enforcement authorities in scam hubs compounds in Myanmar last month.
‘This is in line with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s directive to prioritize the repatriation of OFWs, including their health and welfare upon their arrival in the Philippines,’ Palace Press Officer Clair Castro said in a press briefing last Tuesday.
Upon the arrival of the said OFWs, they will receive assistance from DMW, Department of Foreign Affairs, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, Department of Social Welfare and Development, and the Department of Health.
Citing DMW Secretary Hans J. Cacdac, Castro said the OFWs will arrive via Philippine Airlines Flight PR 8502 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 in Pasay City from Bangkok, Thailand.
DMW earlier announced it has ongoing initiatives to stop more OFWs from ending up in scam hubs by working with social media platforms.
The said coordination has resulted in 70,000 social media accounts, which were linked to illegal recruitment of OFWs bound to Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia, to be taken down by the said platforms.
DMW and other concerned government agencies have already rescued 1,154 OFWs from scam hubs in the three Southeast Asian countries.