THE Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) yesterday advised returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) they may now be deployed to Myanmar after more than two years of being prohibited.
In its Advisory No. 19-2023, the DMW said returning OFWs will be able to work in Myanmar for the first time since May 2021.
“The public is hereby informed that OFWs, who have been legally working in Myanmar, can now return to the Philippines for vacation and would be allowed to go back to resume their overseas employment after properly registering with the DMW,” the advisory read.
It, however, stressed that the policy does not cover newly-hired OFWs.
“This applies only to those with existing employment contracts, and not to the deployment of new hires to Myanmar,” said DMW.
The agency said the decision comes after the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) lowered the Crisis Alert Level (CAL) imposed over Myanmar from Alert Level 4 (Evacuation) to Alert Level 2 (Restricted Phase) last month.
It can be recalled that the DFA placed Myanmar under Alert Level 4 back in May 2021 following the tension caused by the military’s takeover of the government.
Nevertheless, the DMW appealed to OFWs in Myanmar to avoid going to crisis-prone regions in the country.
“Our kababayans are reminded to avoid crisis-prone regions in Myanmar, as there is no guarantee that the Philippine or Myanmar authorities will be able to easily access these areas in order to render assistance in case of emergencies,” said the DMW.
Based on existing data, there are over 1,000 OFWs in Myanmar, mostly in Yangon, Nay Pyi Taw, and Mandalay.
