The Philippine Consulate General in Macau has delivered 824 care packages and released supermarket vouchers to 8,319 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) amid the partial lockdown the city endured last month, according to a report it filed to the country’s Department of Migrant Workers (DMW).
The supermarket vouchers amount to MOP400 for each worker, for which the migrant workers applied online, and then waited for a confirmation from the Consulate once they were eligible.
The Philippines’ Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) previously said that it was preparing to assist the DMW in case the department sent additional relief goods to Filipino nationals in Macau.
This comes after a social media post went viral last month showing several Filipinos grappling for relief goods being handed out by a Chinese vegetarian restaurant.
The Malacañang Palace was said to be monitoring the situation, and the DMW is updating the President of the Philippines.
Previously, local Filipino associations have reported that several migrant workers were surviving only on food donations, as many of them had to undergo unpaid leave due to the lockdown.
As seen on social media, several groups and individuals have raised funds to assist their fellow compatriots.
Also, a total of 70 Filipino workers who tested positive for Covid-19 received USD200 as financial assistance from their government’s Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).
DMW Secretary Susan “Toots” Ople announced last week that the department was closely watching the situation of thousands of OFWs in Taiwan, Israel, and Macau due to recent conflicts and an upsurge of Covid-19 infections.
In a statement, Ople deemed Macau safe for Filipino workers, as there have been no new cases among these workers.
Last month, Ople stated that the city’s partial lockdown had affected 5,295 OFWs in the hotel and gaming industries.
This comes after Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng issued Dispatch of the Chief Executive No. 115/2022 ordering a weeklong suspension of all commercial and industrial business activity as well as non-essential businesses including casinos, due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Another repatriation flight to Manila, meanwhile, is scheduled for September 2.
