Selling reintegration programme to the Filipino community

DUBAI - The Philippine Undersecretary of Labour, Arturo Sodusta, arrived yesterday to present the Philippine government's Reintegration Programme to the Filipino community in Dubai and the Northern Emirates today and in Abu Dhabi tomorrow.

By Lily B. Libo-on (Our staff reporter)

Published: Fri 4 Jul 2008, 2:05 AM

Last updated: Sun 5 Apr 2015, 6:02 PM

The Reintegration Programme is designed to reintegrate returning Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) into their families and communities back home. It includes Community Reintegration and Economic Reintegration, alongside the traditional existing programme.

The visit of Sodusta is part of the massive information drive directed at the eight million Filipinos working in 190 countries, including the United Arab Emirates, through the Philippine Overseas Labour Offices (POLOs) of the Philippines diplomatic missions.

The objective of this programme is to assist the OFWs in finding local jobs by matching their skills with available jobs back home or in going into business, livelihood and re-training opportunities.

Labour Attache Virginia P. Calvez at POLO-OWWA in Dubai said that the training is free of charge for returning overseas Filipinos, most of whom go home for good with huge savings that would enable them to set up their own business or other form of investments.

For instance, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas recently conducted the 6th Financial Literacy Campaign in Manila to promote investments from OFWs and their beneficiaries by informing them of alternative opportunities such as savings or placements in financial instruments, and investments in business ventures.

For community reintegration, the programme is pursued in cooperation with local government units (LGU) and pertinent sectors in order to assist both returning OFWs and those still working overseas, who aim to take part in the development of their fellow Filipinos at home.

Under the economic reintegration, the government will continue to improve remittance channels for OFWs and encourage as well as assist those intending to invest soundly and productively from their remittances or earnings with government assistance.