The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) is providing financial assistance to 452 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who lost their jobs in New Zealand last month after the company they are working for suddenly closed.
DMW officer-in-charge Undersecretary Hans Leo Cacdac said the department, together with its Migrant Workers Office (MWO) in Wellington, the labor attaché, the welfare officer from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), and the Department of Foreign Affairs, are working together to assist the affected OFWs.
Cacdac said at present, the distribution of financial assistance is in process.
Another 50 OFWs who are in New Zealand are being assisted by the embassy.
He said that around 700 OFWs working in the construction and manufacturing sector under ELE Limited lost their jobs after the company announced its closure.
Cacdac said the bulk of the displaced workers are concentrated in Auckland and in Christchurch where the former company has big projects, while a smaller number of workers are scattered in other regions.
Meanwhile, Undersecretary Patricia Yvonne Caunan said another 107 affected Filipino workers have already received 1,050 New Zealand dollars (around P36,000) with another 72 set to receive the same.
She said that “several employers” have reached out to the OFWs saying they are interested to hire the displaced Filipino workers.
Cacdac added that the bulk of the displaced workers are concentrated in Auckland and in Christchurch where the former company has big projects, while a smaller number of workers are scattered in other regions.
The DMW said it is also in talks with employers in New Zealand who may be willing to OFWs who lost their jobs.
Caunan said the initiative is on top of the cash aid the government would provide to the OFWs laid off at ELE Holdings Ltd., ELE Management Ltd., ELE Ltd., and Tranzport Solutions Ltd.
“The financial assistance is just one thing, it is important that our fellow Filipinos find jobs there,” she said.
The DMW, she said, is coordinating with different employers in New Zealand to see if they would be willing to employ the affected OFWs.
Caunan said DMW would give about 1,050 New Zealand dollars (at least PHP36,800) to the OFWs affected and has so far wired the cash aid to about 107 eligible recipients.
The agency is still processing the financial assistance for 345 others.
Philippine Ambassador to New Zealand Kira Christianne Azucena earlier met with some of the laid-off OFWs and conveyed that the financial assistance was an “expression of the Philippine Government’s steadfast commitment to the welfare of Filipinos overseas, especially those in distress.”
The closure of the company took effect just before the Christmas holidays, affecting more than 500 Filipino workers who were holders of both work visas and resident visas.
Filipinos holding work visas are permitted to find new employment under New Zealand regulations, but this process would take about two months, the Philippine Embassy in Wellington said.
Since some of the vacationing workers have certain financial obligations and personal possessions left behind in New Zealand, Cacdac said the way forward is for the Philippine Embassy in Wellington to make representations to the New Zealand Ministry of Affairs and request them to uphold the work visas of the workers to enable them “to return and settle their obligations and/or transfer of employers, if that is possible.”
Cacdac said they have received reports that several employers in New Zealand have expressed interest in employing the displaced OFWs, and the office of the labor attaché is now exerting its best effort to refer the workers to new employers.
He said the MWO also participated in a recent jobs fair organized by a Filipino non-government organization to facilitate employment for the displaced ELE Limited employees.
Despite the closure affecting OFWs, Cacdac assured that New Zealand remains a viable destination for OFWs.
“We have not received any report that says the New Zealand economy is affected, which means, there is no particular travel restriction going to New Zealand. From the DMW point of view, we will continue to process workers who have obtained the necessary permits, DMW clearances and immigration documentation for New Zealand,” he said.