The Department of Migrant Workers (DMWs) extended assistance to Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) stranded in airports during the onslaught of Typhoon Paeng.

 As of October 30, the DMW, through its attached agency Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) has assisted 87 OFWs bound for Israel.

 Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople said the “POEA helped the OFWs rebook their flights and is coordinating with their employers in Israel.”

 The said stranded OFWs are caregivers who were previously hired under the POEA's government to government placement program.

 “Seventy of these OFWs were provided hotel accommodation through OWWA while the rest were either fetched by relatives or returned to their homes,” DMW reports.

Ople also said OWWA assisted seven OFWs stranded in different domestic airports, “The agency provided flight rebooking assistance, hotel accommodations, food, and airport transit to the affected OFWs in the cities of Ozamiz, General Santos, Tacloban, Iloilo, and Cotabato.”

The Secretary has directed OWWA to identify the needs of OFW families displaced by Paeng.

"We are continuously monitoring the impact of Typhoon Paeng on our OFWs and their families. Right now, we are focused on assistance to OFWs stranded in various airports, unable to go home to their provinces or depart for work abroad," Ople said.

OFWs in need of assistance due to flight cancellations and other concerns may contact the OWWA through the following access points: 

On Facebook @OWWA Cares
Kabayan Helplines:                                                                                                                                                                  +63 915 079 5005
+63 969 169 7068
+63 966 473 9543
Hotline: +632 1348