DOLE sets up tracking system for OFWs

CEBU, Philippines —  The Department of Labor and Employment has developed the Overseas Filipino Workers Assistance Information System (OASIS) to facilitate the orderly and smooth repatriation and assistance to returning OFWs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the data the agency gathered will be submitted to the Inter Agency Task Force for tracking system.

Bello said the OASIS will be able to generate vital information that will help the IATF pre-position government resources and needed assistance for repatriated OFWs.

He said the repatriation tracker will facilitate the identification and classification of arriving OFWs in a number of ways to facilitate organized arrival at the airport, efficient swab testing, and rapid pick up and transport to their respective hotels and homes and other necessary processes.

 The system, run by the DOLE Command Center, also serves as a reliable database for OFWs displaced by the pandemic to help the government determine and immediately provide the kind of support they need once they land at the country’s ports.

 Bello added that knowing the airlines the repatriated OFWs used, their health condition, local addresses and other relevant data in the tracker will help government dispense assistance they need.

 To be tracked, an OFW bound for home is requested to register online with OASIS through oasis.owwa.gov.ph.  FPL (FREEMAN)