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Plight of OFWs: Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva underscores the need for the government to look into the plight of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), particularly those who are subjected to various kinds of abuses by their employers. Reacting to the privilege speech of Sen. Raffy Tulfo on the maltreatment of Filipino migrant workers, Villanueva asked Tulfo if lack of job opportunities in the country is the reason why Filipinos choose to look for work abroad. Tulfo, chairperson of the Committee on Migrant Workers, responded in the affirmative, adding that despite knowing the difficulties they might face, Filipinos continue to look for work outside the country due to the absence of job opportunity. “That is why I join the gentleman from Isabela (in urging) the government to really look into the plight of our migrant workers… I am confident that with the leadership of Sen. Tulfo, bills and resolutions pertaining to the welfare and rights of our migrant workers will be tackled and deliberated with utmost scrutiny and urgency,” Villanueva said during the hybrid plenary session Wednesday, August 17, 2022. Villanueva noted that based on the data of the Philippines Statistics Authority, OFWs in 2021 remitted a cumulative amount of $34.884 billion or about 8.9 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. (Voltaire F. Domingo/Senate PRIB)