DOLE says low PHL salaries might not convince OFWs from Libya to stay

While more Filipinos arrived home from strife-torn Libya, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said the lower salaries in the Philippines might not convince them to stay in the country. Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said many Filipinos who returned from Libya were more inclined to return to Libya and resume their jobs, or find other work abroad. “Sa Libya, walang gastos, walang tax. Ang professionals nakakauwi every three months, libre lahat. Yan ay posibleng hadlang. Maintindihan natin kung babalik sila doon o sa ibang bansa," she said in an interview on dwIZ radio on Monday. (In Libya, they don't spend much, there's no tax. The professionals can go home to the Philippines every three months, everything's free. That is a possible hindrance. We will understand if they want to return to Libya or go to other countries. A report of Denver Trinidad of radio dzBB said some 4,198 Filipinos had returned home to from Libya since February 26 this year. Trinidad said at least 300 more Filipinos were due to arrive in separate flights on Monday. Baldoz said the DOLE will continue to explore job opportunities for the repatriated OFWs both at home and abroad. She said she was scheduled to hold talks this week with the European Chamber of Commerce Monday, and the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc. Ultimately, she said her department’s job is to present options to the returning OFWs, who will then decide which offer to take. “Ang decision sa kanila. Kami nagfa-facilitate lang ng serbisyo. Pero ang pamimili ng pag-abroad o dito tumigil yan, personal decision nila at pamilya. Kung kami ang tatanungin mas maganda dito magtrabaho bagama’t maliit ang sweldo," she said. (The decision is theirs. We are just facilitating their choice. It is a personal choice for them, for themselves and their families, although if you ask us, we will encourage them to find work at home even if the benefits are far less.) Reintegration services Baldoz said she has decentralized reintegration services for repatriated OFWs that they might have better access to livelihood and employment assistance. “Decentralized na natin sa baba kung saan sila madaling maka-access kung sila ay nasa probinsya na nila," she said. (We decentralized everything so OFWs who have already returned to their provinces can access livelihood and employment services.) 10 days of travel A batch of at least 21 Filipinos, eight of them children, returned to the Philippines from strife-torn Libya before dawn on Monday. Some of the children were irritable after more than a week in transit upon arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, according to a report by dzBB’s Manny Vargas. “Hindi kami pinapayagan, safety muna ang iniisip namin (We were not immediately allowed to board a flight for Manila. We were told that it was for our safety)," said a mother of a one-year-old child who was irritable after 10 days of not having a bath. She said they left Tripoli eight days ago but arrived in Manila aboard a Qatar Airways flight only past 5:00 a.m. on Monday. – VVP, GMA News