MANILA – The Philippines paid tribute on Sunday to its estimated eight million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) for their contributions, not only to the economy but also for their skills and talents that have provided the engines of growth and progress in their host countries.
In her message, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo acknowledged that nobody can belittle the contributions of the OFWs to the economy, especially now in these hard and difficult times arising from the deepening global recession.
“The skills and talents of the expatriate Filipinos are today driving the engines of progress and productivity all over the world,” the President stressed. “On land and on sea, they are the Global Filipinos worthy of a nation’s pride.”
President Arroyo was to arrive from an eight-day trip to South Korea and Russia in time for the celebration on Sunday in which June 7 of every year was declared Migrant Workers Day through an executive order signed and issued by then president Fidel Ramos 14 years ago.
While paying tribute to the OFWs, Secretary Marianito Duque also introduced a somber note to the workers as he urged them to be wise and resolute in managing their hard-earned savings.
Roque cited instances of many “sad stories” that arose from the “imprudent handling of earnings obtained from years of toiling in foreign lands.”
This year’s celebration, spearheaded by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (Owwa) carried the theme, “Araw ng Pasasalamat: Pagpupugay sa Kakayahan at Talino ng Pinoy Expat” (Day of Thanksgiving: Tribute to the Skills and Talent of the Filipino Expat).
Carmelita Dimzon, the Owwa administrator, said this year’s celebration involved around 10,000 members of the so-called OFW Family Circles, composed of OFW families, in the country’s 17 regions.
These groups, Dimzon explained, were organized by Owwa welfare officers in coordination with non-government organizations, members of the clergy as well as other concerned sectors like OFW federations and cooperatives.
Through these family circles and through the Owwa itself, Dimzon said the agency aims to serve the interest of their members and beneficiaries through programmes and projects to improve their welfare and enhance their skills to enable them to keep up with the uncertainties and challenges of the global market.
“In all corners of the globe, our highly skilled and hard-working OFWs are in the frontlines, projecting the Filipino can-do spirit,” she emphasized.
In particular, Dimzon cited as an example Owwa’s ongoing programme, called the Filipino Expatriate Livelihood Support Fund (FELSF), which was implemented starting January this year, to help OFWs who were forced to return home after they were laid off from their jobs due to the worsening global economic and financial turmoil.
The FELSF, with an initial funding equivalent to $20 million, provides to each of the displaced OFWs a soft loan for starting up or reviving a business venture, Dimzon explained.
At the end of May 2009, Dimzon reported that the fund has already served close to 1,500 qualified borrowers, the majority of whom came from Metro Manila.
With the FELSF, thousands of OFWs have embarked into entrepreneurship projects and turned themselves from migrant workers into micro businessmen, she said.
As such, the OFWs have become their own boss, according to Dimzon.