MANILA — Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Director General Guiling Mamondiong said the agency would prioritize the repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in its free technical vocational (tech-voc) courses.
In a statement, Mamondiong said he has instructed all TESDA district, provincial, and regional directors to provide retraining assistance to the distressed OFWs from Kuwait.
Over a thousand OFWs from Kuwait have already been repatriated by the government since last week. The move was due to the abuse and maltreatment that the OFWs there were apparently experiencing.
Last week, the body of slain OFW Joanna Demafelis arrived in the Philippines. Demafelis worked as a domestic worker in Kuwait. She was murdered and her body was found in a freezer.
As the OFWs are being repatriated and also due to the total deployment ban to Kuwait that the government is imposing, Mamondiong has asked TESDA officials and TESDA Technology Institutions to prioritize the repatriated OFWs in TESDA’s training programs.
He also asked them to contact these OFWs in their areas, through the help of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), so they could be provided with immediate assistance.
Free training, assessment, training support fund, food, and transportation allowance of PHP100/day await the repatriated OFWs.
As of December 2017, TESDA has already provided technical assistance to more than 2,000 OFWs and their dependents. The program for OFWs is in accordance with TESDA’s 17-point Reform and Development Agenda. (Ma. Cristina Arayata/PNA)
