Lack of flights for OFWs seen

A shortage of flights may ensue during the holiday season if departing newly hired overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) would have to contend for airplane seats with returning old hires amid massive delays in government agencies processing work permits, warned a recruitment consultant.

Emmanuel Geslani, a recruitment expert, said the backlog at the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) processing and accreditation departments was delaying the trips of newly hired OFWs.

If these workers would not be able to leave the country soon, they would find themselves competing for airline seats with more than 50,000 OFWs returning to their host countries from holiday breaks and renewing their contracts and work clearances, said Geslani in a statement yesterday.

Some 2,000 Filipinos working on US bases in Iraq and Afghanistan alone are expected to return to the country to obtain new travel documents from the POEA, he said.

Geslani said that from November to January, the POEA’s “Balik Manggagawa” section was swamped daily by at least 1,000 people applying for overseas employment certificates (OECs) and paying their fees.

He called on the POEA to pick up the pace to avoid a backlog in OEC and Balik Manggagawa applicants.

“There is a recurring shortage of passenger seats for the return of some 50,000 Balik Manggagawa OFWs and the newly hired may also find themselves competing for flights from Manila to various job sites like the Middle East and the United States,” said Geslani. Jocelyn R. Uy