Aquino: Opportunities Await Returning OFWs
Aaron Lozada, ABS-CBNnews.com
Posted at 07/28/2015 12:34 AM | Updated as of 07/28/2015 12:48 AM
MANILA – In his final State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Benigno S. Aquino III highlighted what his administration has done to address the plight of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
In his speech, Aquino said that more than 400,000 OFWs have come home.
“Noong taong 2011, nasa 9.51 million ang naitalang Overseas Filipinos ng Department of Foreign Affairs. Sa huling datos naman ng Disyembre ng taong 2014, nasa 9.07 million na lang ito. Hindi kalabisang isiping marami sa tinatayang 440,000 nabawas sa kanila ay bumalik sa Pilipinas, at nakahanap ng trabaho.”
Aquino clarified that these OFWs did not come home jobless. As he pointed out in his speech, unemployment rate in the country, despite newly graduates and returning OFWs joining the labor force, has reached a decade-low.
“Bagama’t may bagong salta sa merkado, mga balikbayan, at dati nang walang trabaho, ang unemployment rate, bumaba sa 6.8 percent noong nakaraang taon. Ito ang pinakamababa sa loob ng isang dekada,” Aquino said.
Aside from existing job openings in the market, Aquino said that entrepreneurial opportunities await returning OFWs.
He said one former OFW now owns four branches of spa centers after enrolling in TESDA’s “hilot wellness massage.”
“Naikuwento nga po sa atin ni Sec. Joel Villanueva: May OFW na napilitang umuwi. Akala niya, wala nang pag-asang umasenso. Nag-aral siya ng “hilot wellness massage” sa TESDA; ngayon po, apat na ang branch niya ng spa,’ Aquino mentioned in his SONA.