Dubai: The Philippine president has expressed plans to call home all overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) around the world so they can invest and serve their country, a top official said.
Brigadier General Charito Plaza, the new director-general of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), told Filipino community leaders in a town hall meeting held at the Philippines Consulate General on Wednesday that plans are under way to entice Filipino expatriates back to the country as per the vision of President Rodrigo Duterte.
“As per the president’s AmBisyon (Ambition) Natin 2040, he envisions that by 2040, no Filipino will be poor but that they will all become middle class. He also wants OFWs to return to the country where they can use their expertise and skills plus those they acquired abroad in the service of the country,” Plaza said, referring to the Executive Order No 5 signed in October.
Plaza, who is in Dubai on a brief visit to meet potential investors, quoted Duterte’s speech during his visit in Japan last week that this generation would be the last generation of migrant workers and that the next generation would work in the Philippines.
When asked how the plan to recall 2.4 million OFWs will happen, Plaza said the government is still preparing the groundwork needed. This includes setting up special economic zones in every province and city that would help lure investors and create new jobs.
“It is going to be voluntary [on the part of OFWs], that’s why we are hurrying up to set up special economic zones in the Philippines. We have many moneyed OFWs who can invest in the Philippines if given the right programmes,” Plaza said, without further details.
Jenny Gonzales, former head of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas and a Dubai-based educator, lauded the idea but said the Philippine government will have to do its homework before it starts urging OFWs to return.
“We welcome the idea but this cannot be done abruptly. If this is still a plan, they should conduct a survey, study migration policies and migration trends. They should include stakeholders in the discussion,” Gonzales told Gulf News.
Gonzales said government should check the corresponding number of OFWs for the jobs available. The social costs of reintegration is a major consideration, especially the salaries OFWs will receive once home since this is a major factor why they leave the country in the first place.
“Those earning huge sums would not trade their jobs with a low-paying job back home,” Gonzales said. “They should inculcate in these returnees nationalistic values or love of country first before anything else.”
