MANILA, 22 March 2008 — Families of Filipinos seeking work overseas should attend the orientation seminar being given to departing workers to prepare them of the effect of long separation and other “psychosocial pressures,” the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has said.
A news release posted in the DOLE’s website said the seminars, called Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar, or PDOS, could also prepare an OFW’s dependents in case the breadwinner decides to come home after finishing the employment contract.
Former Labor Secretary Arturo Brion, who was recently appointed as associate justice of the Supreme Court, emphasized the need for such orientation when he turned over a P780,000 livelihood fund to families of OFWs who are members of associations in Iloilo City recently.
Family members who get to attend the PDOS will be prepared to handle the social costs of migration and may learn to save from the regular remittances sent to them, Brion was quoted in the statement as saying.
Brion explained that the seminar includes a module for OFW families that lines up possible steps to take in case the OFW cannot find employment back home. “Families must also be involved in the reintegration of OFWs in the economic mainstream,” he stressed.
The fund Brion released was part of a program being carried out by the DOLE regional office in the Western Visayas (Region 6) to help OFW families in economic ventures such as bangus processing, peanut butter making, longganisa cooking and packaging, making of accessories, among others.
Seven OFW families received livelihood funds from the DOLE to be used as a start-up capital in their new business ventures. Included in the agreement between the OFW associations and the DOLE is the PDOS for OFW families, trainings in livelihood projects and seminars for business management.
Aida Estabillo, labor director for Region 6, urged the OFW families to strengthen their ties with provincial staff of DOLE and technical staff of Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to ensure the success of their new business ventures.
