3K OFWs affected by air traffic system glitch assisted —DMW

Around 3,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were assisted with their rebooking flights after hundreds of flights were disrupted on Sunday due to technical issues that closed the Philippine airspace, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said Monday.

In an ANC interview, DMW Undersecretary Hans Leo Cacdac said most of the stranded OFWs had flights supposedly going to the Middle East and other Asian countries.

“By our count, roughly around 3,000 OFWs were assisted with their rebooking insofar as getting themselves flights today and up to the next two or three days is concerned,” he said.

Over 280 flights were canceled, diverted, or delayed on New Year's Day as the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) recorded a technical issue at the Philippine Air Traffic Management Center.

Cacdac said many of the affected OFWs were given assistance by their airlines and recruitment agencies. They were also provided aid in terms of food, transport, and hotel accommodation.

Around 400 of these OFWs stranded at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), and airports of Clark and Mactan, had sought help in booking hotel accommodation, he added.

In a separate interview on Super Radyo dzBB, Cacdac allayed the concerns of OFWs for possible issues at work abroad because of the flight delays and cancellations, saying that labor attachés will be coordinating with their employers.

“Naka-timbre na ang mga labor attachés natin. Nagbigay din ng directive si Secretary Toots [Ople] na sa mga labor attachés, kausapin ang kanilang mga respective employers,” he said.

(Our labor attachés are on standby. Secretary Toots Ople also directed the labor attachés to talk to the OFWs’ respective employers.)

“Kailangan maipaliwanag maigi sa kanilang employers na hindi nila kasalanan ‘yung one or two days na delay na pagdating nila doon. Huwag po kayong mag-alala, sabi namin sa kanila, dahil ang ating mga labor attachés on the ground mismo ang kakausap sa kanilang mga employers,” he added.

(It is necessary that their employers understand that it is not the OFWs’ fault that their flights get delayed for one or two days. The OFWs should not worry because our labor attachés on the ground will talk to their employers themselves.)

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) said the system was partially restored as of 4 p.m. on Sunday, and flights — both arriving and departing — have already resumed.

According to transport officials, flight operations in Manila are expected to fully recover in three days, but billions of pesos' worth of upgrades are needed to prevent a repeat of this incident which affected thousands of passengers. —KBK, GMA Integrated News