The administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has assisted close to 800,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to find decent employment abroad and extended scholarships to their children in the Philippines, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) reported Friday.

In her welcome remarks during the gift-giving event at the Malacanan Palace Grounds, Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople said that from July to December this year, DMW assisted some 766,290 OFWs find jobs abroad.

It also facilitated the repatriation of 6,341 distressed OFWs and has continued to give livelihood assistance and scholarships to the families of OFWs in the Philippines.

As of November, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) had 16,000 scholars, Ople said, noting the DMW and OWWA also have programs for talented OFW children.

“Next year, the DMW will be in full hiring mode because we need to fill up around 1,000 positions,” she said, adding that the DMW will also be opening 16 regional offices and four additional overseas labor posts or Migrant Workers Offices.

The first OFW Hospital in Mabalacat, Pampanga province now benefits OFWs and their families, Ople said, as she thanked Marcos for his assistance in approving the agency’s P15.871-billion budget.

She said the DMW and OWWA will continue to work to ensure the welfare of OFWs and their families based on the President’s instruction.

The Palace event coincides with the first anniversary of the creation of Republic Act No. 11641, the law creating the DMW.

The President greeted the officials and personnel of the DMW for the agency’s first anniversary, commending them for their hard work that benefits OFWs and their families.

“Sa nakaraang taon ay nakita natin na buong sigasig na nagtatrabaho ang kagawaran upang siguruhin ang interes at kapakanan ng ating mga OFW,” Marcos said. Presidential News Desk