The two overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who went missing in Hong Kong have been found safe and given immediate assistance, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said yesterday.
Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac reported that OFWs Imee Mahilum Pabuaya and Aleli Perez Tibay were found at a police station in Hong Kong on Thursday evening.
‘The two were found and taken to a police station in Hong Kong. The two were immediately picked up by our Migrant Workers Office personnel. They arrived at the MWO in Hong Kong around midnight,’ Cacdac said in an online briefing.
According to a report sent to the DMW, the OFWs got lost while on a hiking trip.
‘We will still talk to the two of them and ask more about what happened. We will probably ask them to draft an affidavit,’ said Cacdac.
He said the two were immediately provided psychosocial counseling and medical checkup upon their arrival at the MWO.
The two are also scheduled to meet with their employers to explain what happened and to try to negotiate their return to work.
‘Their employment has been terminated. So they will retrieve their belongings from the employers but will also try to explain to the employers what happened to them,’ Cacdac said.
The official added that the DMW is ready to provide repatriation assistance to the two OFWs if they are unable to return to their jobs.
‘If they are indeed terminated, their repatriation will be arranged. We stand ready to repatriate them,’ Cacdac said.
The DMW earlier issued a public appeal for information on the two OFWs, who had been missing since Oct. 4.