DOLE looks for alternative jobs for workers returning from Middle East

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Labor and Employment is working on alternative plans in case millions of overseas Filipino workers in the Middle East will have to be repatriated because of tension between the United States and Iran.

According to Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, there are more than 2 million documented OFWs in the Middle East. Including undocumented workers, the number of Filipinos in the Middle East could be double that.

The secretary clarified that all OFWs, whether documented or undocumented, will be covered by evacuation efforts in the Middle East.

The Philippine Embassy in Iraq has raised Alert Level 4 in the entire country, calling for evacuation or mandatory repatriation of OFWs.

Bello said the government is talking with other countries for the possible redeployment of OFWs who will be repatriated from the Middle East as tensions rise due to a conflict between the United States and Iran.

"We are already fast-tracking our negotiation with alternative countries where we could deploy them and I'm talking of China, Russia, Canda, including Germany and, of course, Japan," Bello said in a televised press briefing.

The Labor chief added that the government come up with a profile of OFWs in affected areas to determine where to redeploy them.

Aside from alternative employment, the DOLE is also working on a livelihood program for OFWs who will be returning to the country.

The DOLE may also issue a total deployment ban to Iran and Lebanon by the end of the week, Bello said. — Patricia Lourdes Viray

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