For Irish Gay Meliton and Leonila Burlaza, public school teachers, returning to the Philippines after years of teaching in Thailand and taking on the role of mentors for schoolchildren in their respective communities is truly fulfilling.
“We are blessed, not just lucky, to have gained this opportunity to become teachers of the Department of Education and able to practice our profession here because working in a foreign country is quite challenging. It is also more fulfilling to be able to serve in the Philippines,” Burlaza told the Philippine Information Agency.
“As OFW (overseas Filipino workers) teachers, we were encouraged to avail ourselves of the Sa Pinas Ikaw ang Ma’am at Sir (SPIMS) because it is much better to work where your family is close nearby,” Meliton added.
During the reintegration campaign in Koronadal City on Aug. 26, Burlaza, Meliton, and another South Cotabato teacher received P20,000 each from the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) as beneficiaries of the agency’s SPIMS program.
In the same event, 128 OFWs received P10,000 each as beneficiaries of the Livelihood Program for OFW Reintegration (LPOR).
The DMW’s Agarang Kalinga at Saklolo para sa mga OFW na Nangangailangan (AKSYON) Fund also provided P30,000 in aid to another 128 individuals.
In total, 259 reintegrated OFWs from Cotabato Province, South Cotabato, Sarangani, Sultan Kudarat, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao received P5.18 million.
SPIMS, a collaboration between DMW, DepEd, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), and the National Reintegration Center for OFWs (NRCO), is designed to help OFWS who are licensed professional teachers return to the Philippines and work as public school teachers.
Apart from reintegrating OFWs into the local workforce and continuing their teaching careers, SPIMS also addresses the shortage of public-school teachers in the Philippines.
LPOR, on the other hand, supports OFWs in setting up sustainable livelihoods as they transition back into their communities and become self-sufficient.
Besides providing OFWs with financial aid to establish or expand their livelihood, DMW and partner agencies equip beneficiaries with skills and knowledge to set up and manage their businesses through financial literacy training, entrepreneurial development, and capacity-building workshops.
Meanwhile, the AKSYON Fund intends to provide comprehensive support to OFWs facing various challenges abroad.
The initiative offers legal, medical, and financial assistance to distressed OFWs who are facing legal troubles, financial hardship, or emergencies; it also supports families of OFWs who have passed away or are severely ill.
DMW’s AKSYON Fund covers a wide range of services, including legal representation, financial aid for airfare and exit visas, and help for those affected by natural calamities or economic downturns in their host countries.
SPIMS, LPOR, and AKSYON Fund are among the initiatives of the DMW that encourage OFWs to return to the Philippines and transition to sustainable living here.
“Pangunahing layunin nito ay bigyang pagkakataon ang ating mga OFWs na makabalik dito sa ating lipunan, sa ating bansa, nang sa gano’n di na sila kailangan pang mangibang-bansa para humanap ng trabaho. Layunin din nito na ‘yong social cost ay maiwasan,” DMW Undersecretary for Licensing and Adjudication Bernard Olalia.
(Its main goal is to give our OFWs the opportunity to return to our society and country, so that they no longer have to go abroad to find work.)
“Napakahirap po na mawalay sa isang pamilya. Alam natin ang pinagdadaanan ng isang OFW, lalung-lalo ba kung siya ay may pamilya. Kaya ang gusto natin bigyan sila ng trabaho, bigyan ng oportunidad na makapagsimula uli dito sa ating bansa,” he added.
(Separating from a family can be extremely challenging. We know what an OFW goes through, especially if he has a family. That’s why we want to give them a job and the opportunity to start over here in our country.)
Olalia said the government is ready to provide everything that an OFW needs.
“Halimbawa, kung sila ay mhilig magnegosyo, bibigyan natin sila ng entreprenuerial skills, bibigyan natin sila ng puhunan,” he said, emphasizing further that the startup capital is a grant, not a loan.
(For example, if they want to do business, we will provide them with entrepreneurial skills and capital.)
The official emphasized that DMW would also ensure the sustainability of the livelihoods that OFWs will engage in. (DED – PIA 12)
