OFW

Overseas Filipino Workers

 OVERSEAS FILIPINO
WORKER (OFW)
Is a term often used to refer to 
Filipino migrant workers, people
with Filipino citizenship who reside
in another country for a limited
period of employment. They may be
land-based of sea-based workers.
STATISTICS OF
OFW (2019)
Based on the results of the
2019 Survey on Overseas
Filipinos, the number of
Overseas Filipino Workers
(OFWs)who worked abroad at
any time during the period
April to September 2019 was
estimated at 2.2 million.
CONCEPTS &
DEFINITIONS
• Migrant Worker or OFW
• Documented OFW
• Undocumented OFW
• Undocumented OFW
• Worker on-Leave
• Seafarer
STRUGGLES OF
OFW’S
a) Pre-employment/deployment
• High cost of placement fees
• Lack of information on policies
of host country
• Illegal recruitment/
deployment/departure
• Limited job options
STRUGGLES OF OFW’S
• Abusive and exploitative work
conditions
• Contract substitution
• Ill-attended health needs
• Rampant trafficking of women
• Social and cultural adaptation
problems
• Incidence of violence
• Lack of welfare and other
officials to attend to migrant
worker needs ‘
• Lack of support or cooperation
from government of host
country
STRUGGLES OF OFW’S
c) Post-employment/return
• Lack of savings
• Inability to manage income
• Broken families
• Reintegration problem of women migrant workers
STRUGGLES OF OFW’S
o Marital Conflict
o Long Distant-Parenting
o Abused by their boss
o Illegal Recruitment
REASONS BEHIND
THE OFW
PHENOMENON
1. High Unemployment Rate
2. Low Salary offered by employers
in the Philippines
3. Discrimination in job hiring in the
Philippines
4. High Withholding Tax
ROLE OF OFW IN
TRANSFORMING THE
SOCIETY
• Filipinos are skilled and talented
professionals who work hard to give
hope to their families and to the
Philippine economy. The country is
proud to export its workforce.
• OFW’s are considered as today’s heroes.
• The impact of remittance on the
Philippine economy.
LAWS
o Republic Act No. 8042
This Act shall be known and cited as the "Migrant Workers and
Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995.” Amended by Republic Act No.
10022 on July 27, 2009.

o Republic Act No. 10801

This Act shall be known as the “Overseas Workers Welfare
Administration Act”.
 LAWS
• Presidential Decree No. 1694
Welfare Fund for Overseas
Workers

• Presidential Decree No. 1809

Amending certain provisions of P
residential Decree 1694, creating t
he “Welfare Fund for Overseas Wo
rkers"
 LAWS
o Republic Act No. 7111
This Act shall be known as the "Overseas Workers' Investment (OWI)
Fund Act.“
o Batas Pambansa Bilang 79
An act creating the commission on Filipinos overseas and for other
purposes.
o Republict Act No. 9679
Under RA 9679, all OFWs are mandatorily covered by the Pag-IBIG
Fund. They can register at any of the Pag-IBIG offices in the Philippines
or at its overseas posts, either personally or through a representative
MAJOR PROGRAMS FOR OFWS
AND THEIR FAMILIES

EDUCATION AND TRAINING ASSISTANCE

o Seafarer’s Upgrading Program (SUP)
o Education for Development Scholarship Program (EDSP
o OFW Development Scholarship Program (ODSP) 
o Education and Livelihood Assistance Program (ELAP)
o Skills-for-Employment Scholarship Program (SESP)
MAJOR PROGRAMS FOR
OFWS & THEIR FAMILIES

SOCIAL BENEFITS
• Disability and
Dismemberment
• Death Benefit 
• Burial Benefit 
MAJOR PROGRAMS FOR OFWS
AND THEIR FAMILIES
WELFARE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (WAP)
-CASH ASSISTANCE
o Bereavement Assistance 
o Strong Typhoons, Heavy Flooding, Earthquake and other
Natural Disasters/Crises 
o Man-Made Disasters/Crises and Other Similar Cases
o DOLE-AKAP Cash Assistance
MAJOR PROGRAMS FOR OFWS
AND THEIR FAMILIES
Medical Assistance for OFWs (MEDPLUS)
Provides a maximum of Php50,000.00 for active OWWA
and Philhealth members on top of the regular Philhealth
benefits.
REINTEGRATION SERVICES
FOR OVERSEAS FILIPINO
WORKERS
Livelihood
o Balik-Pinas
o Balik-Pinay
o Financial Awareness Seminar (FAS) and Small
Business Management Training (SBMT)
o Livelihood Development
o Assistance Program (LDAP)
OTHER PROGRAMS
& SERVICES
o Overseas Filipino Workers – Enterprise Development
and Loan Program (OFW-EDLP).

o Tulong Pangkabuhayan sa Pag-unlad ng Samahang

OFWs (Tulong PUSO)  
Institutions Serving Philippine
International Labour Migrants
OVERSEAS WORKERS
WELFARE
ADMINISTRATION
PHILIPPINE OVERSEAS
EMPLOYMENT
ADMINISTRATION
COMMISION ON
FILIPINO OVERSEAS
DEPARTMENT OF
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
THE PHILIPPINE
OVERSEAS LABOR
OFFICE
 THE END!
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