President Marcos on Overseas Filipino Workers #SONA2023

GMA Integrated News

President Marcos discusses issues regarding Overseas Filipino Workers, including bilateral agreements with other countries on healthcare, tourism, hospitality, engineering, and IT. #SONA2023

Transcript

00:00 It is our wish that one day foreign employment will be driven by choice, not by necessity.

00:07 It remains a noble calling that our OFWs have answered, requiring great sacrifice from them,

00:13 their families, and their communities.

00:16 We are engaging with our partners in the international community to ensure a safe working environment

00:22 for our countrymen.

00:23 And as we do so, we are also putting in place responsive mechanisms for the social welfare,

00:29 repatriation, and reintegration of our returning OFWs into the Philippine economy.

00:42 As the world economy reopens, we are witnessing a rise in overseas Filipino deployment.

00:49 In 2022, the number has increased by 62%.

00:53 OFWs continue to send in historically high remittances, solidifying their role in our

01:00 transformative economic growth.

01:03 In 2022, our OFWs contributed $32.5 billion, or roughly 1.8 trillion pesos, to our economy.

01:13 Several countries have also signified interest to explore bilateral labor cooperation with

01:20 the Philippines in the areas of health care, tourism, hospitality, engineering, construction,

01:26 and information technology.

01:28 Recently, we signed agreements with Singapore, Austria, and the province of Alberta in Canada.

01:35 Our priority is to ensure that the principles of ethical recruitment, fair employment, and

01:40 the safe and orderly migration of our people are embodied in our agreements with other

01:46 countries.

01:47 For example, the deployment issue in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has now been resolved.

01:53 And as of today, 70,000 of our OFWs have already been deployed to Saudi Arabia for employment.

02:04 Moreover, the unpaid salaries and other related claims of some 14,000 OFWs who have been put

02:13 out of work in Saudi Arabia during the pandemic are now being processed.

02:18 The Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia himself personally committed to me that the

02:24 unpaid claims of Filipino workers would now be paid.

02:36 The continued employment of some 50,000 workers and the deployment of many more Filipino seafarers

02:41 aboard EU vessels has also been assured.

02:45 The lesson for us is that our education and skills training must always be attuned to

02:51 the high, exacting, and constantly evolving global standards.

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