COTABATO CITY -- Three distressed Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) from Kidapawan City have safely arrived home and reunited with their families with the help of the local government.
Through the Kidapawan City Public Employment Services Office (PESO), Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), OFWs Maricel Lingatong, Remelyn Aguirre, and Josephine Shimura are now with their families, Kidapawan City Mayor Joseph Evangelista said Thursday.
The trio and their families paid a courtesy call on Thursday and expressed appreciation for the efforts on bringing them home safe.
“They were working overseas as household workers,” said Evangelista, who also thanked their families for entrusting the fate of their loved ones to the city government.
Lingatong was employed in Malaysia while Aguirre and Shimura both worked in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Lingatong and Aguirre complained of maltreatment from their employers and were forced to work for long hours without day-off, their families separately told Evangelista.
Shimura, on the other hand, was repatriated for health reasons after her husband, Azer Perez, chairman of Barangay Mua-an, reported to the PESO of her lingering illness while working abroad.
In a statement, the mayor said relatives of the OFWs had sought the help of the city government on the three migrant workers could come home safely and alive.
He said the Kidapawan PESO coordinated with the DFA and OWWA for the repatriation of the three OFWs.
Aguirre was repatriated on and reunited with her family on October 31, 2019. Lingatong arrived on December 26, 2019, while Shimura was reunited with her family on January 8, 2020.
The three OFWs expressed gratitude for the assistance extended to them by the city government, OWWA, and DFA for their safe return. (PNA)
