Owwa sends aid to OFW families

The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (Owwa) is distributing bottled water and cooked meals to 3,000 families of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who were affected by Tropical Storm “Sendong” in Northern Mindanao, Owwa chief  Carmelita Dimzon said Wednesday.

Dimzon said she ordered Owwa Region 10 director Petrona Bergado to continue its “Operation Tulong” for OFW victims of  Sendong which devastated Cagayan de Oro City and Iligan City over the weekend.

“Our personnel have been mobilized to distribute bottled mineral water and cooked or ready-to-eat food to the residents.  The initial assessment indicated that 3,000 OFW families had been affected, but the number is expected to grow,” Dimzon said in a statement.

Dimzon said the Regional Office was still assessing the extent of damage that OFW families suffered in the areas badly hit by the storm.

“We are thankful that, so far, there has been no reported OFW casualty,” Dimzon said, adding that the agency was being assisted by OFW Family Circles in locating OFW families.

Dimzon said they were searching in the 34 villages near the banks of Cagayan and Iponan Rivers where a large number of OFWs reportedly resided.

Retrieval operations are still ongoing which hamper relief operations, Dimzon said.