Recruitment, manning agencies told to help OFWs affected by air traffic mess
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Migrant Workers has formally ordered all private recruitment agencies (PRAs) and licensed manning agencies (LMAs) to assist overseas Filipino workers who were unable to leave the country due to the New Year’s Day air traffic system outage.
In an advisory dated January 3, Migrant Workers Secretary Susan “Toots” Ople also instructed PRAs and LMAs to send the department reports on the status of the OFWs as well as contact their employers regarding the incident.
"All PRAs and LMAs are directed to assist affected OFWs in explaining the cause of such delays to principal and employers to ensure that workers’ employment are secure and unaffected," Ople said.
Flights to and from the Philippines were left in limbo last Sunday after an outage of the country’s air traffic management system that affected around 56,000 passengers, including around 3,000 OFWs.
READ: Data: Airspace outage left thousands stranded, hundreds of flights canceled
The DMW on Sunday provided hotel accommodation and transportation for OFWs across the country whose flights were delayed and rescheduled.
Meanwhile, Migrant Workers Welfare Offices, previously known as Philippine Overseas Labor Offices, assisted affected OFWs abroad who were supposed to fly home on Sunday.
Migrant Workers Undersecretary Hans Cacdac said there were around 400 OFWs who were given hotel accommodation by the DMW and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration since Sunday. The migrant workers will be provided accommodation until the day of their rescheduled flights.
"By my estimate, we still have half of the 400 still in the hotels waiting for their rebooked flights. I know some or many of them have rebooked flight dates on the 4th, the 5th, and the 6th," Cacdac said in an interview with CNN Philippines’ “The Source” on Tuesday, adding that DMW officials are still assisting OFWs who have concerns related to Sunday’s airport glitch.
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