50 laid off OFWs receive loans, begin new lives

MANILA, Philippines - A total of 50 laid off overseas Filipino workers had a new lease on life as they were awarded loans by the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration (OWWA). OWWA chief Carmelita Dimzon told GMANews.TV on Monday that the loans ranged from P30,000 to P50,000. All of the 50 OFWs had been working in Taiwan before the US-led economic crisis forced the export-dependent country to slowdown and lay-off migrant workers. “We gave them the loans on condition that they would set up a business and become entrepreneurs," Dimzon said in an interview. The loans would be paid within 24-months with a five percent annual interest. Labor Secretary Marianito Roque was quoted in reports as saying that 5,400 OFWs had returned home since October 2008 as casualties of the global economic crisis. Most of the workers were laid off from Taiwan and the Middle East. Recruitment consultant Emmanuel Geslani warned that Dubai, one of the top Filipino destinations in the United Arab Emirates, might be the next hot spot for massive lay-offs of migrant workers. Geslani said that a $582-billion construction project was suspended in the emirate following the economic crunch. The Philippine government has readied P7-billion to create emergency gaps for all Filipino workers who might lose their jobs. Roque said in reports that the fund would be able to sustain employment opportunities for Filipinos for two years. Roque noted that four months after the first batch of OFWs returned home as some factories closed shop due to the US-led economic crisis, the firings have stopped. Taiwan, one of the hardest-hit in export dependent countries in Asia and which fired the bulk of some 5,404 retrenched OFWs, has not been terminating workers for quite some time now. “They can’t fire anymore," Roque told GMA News, “Otherwise, they would lose their foreign labor quota." South Korea, another export-dependent country, had only sent home less than a hundred OFWs in recent weeks. Roque said this was because the Philippine government responded early and found new jobs for 2,000 OFWs laid off in Korea. Of the total number of retrenched workers, 4,140 came from Taiwan; 180 from Canada; 81 from Australia; and 74 from Korea. - GMANews.TV