OWWA support to OFWs welcomed in Capiz
by Jemin B. Guillermo
Roxas City (17 October) -- Capiz welcomes the plan of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to strengthen linkage for the welfare of Capiceņos who are working abroad.
Provincial Board Member Esteban Evan Contreras said that as chairperson on the Sanggunian's Committee on Labor and Employment, he is optimistic for a positive result in the plan to organize the family circle of Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Capiz.
OWWA Regional Director Officer-in-Charge James Mendiola disclosed that about 12,000 Capiceņos are currently and actively working abroad.
He said that Capiz is also third in Western Visayas in terms of the number of individuals working abroad.
According to him, the organization of the OFW family circle from the municipal to the provincial level will serve as a tool to gather data and monitor the number of OFWs in the province.
Mendiola said that the organization will also serve as a venue for the OFW families, particularly the children, the spouse of the extended family members, for the government to deliver the protection and other services to them.
He cited, among others, the conduct of value awareness and livelihood development programs like skills training for the organize OFW circles.
Meanwhile, Contreras said that this initiative will also help the provincial government to an inventory and strengthen its monitoring and coordination efforts for Capiceņo OFWs. (PIA) [top]