Fifty-seven overseas Filipino workers who returned home after fleeing the turmoil in the Middle East have received livelihood grants amounting to PHP1,135,000, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) announced.
The grants were coursed through the agency’s Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP), a scheme designed to lift the socio-economic standing of beneficiaries by giving them the means to build and sustain dependable sources of income.
“Upang matulungan na magsimulang muli ang mga repatriated and stranded OFWs mula sa Middle East, ang DSWD ay nagbigay ng kabuuang PHP1,135,000 worth of livelihood grants sa 57 na bumalik na OFWs ating bansa (To help our repatriated and stranded OFWs from the Middle East start anew, the DSWD has provided a total of Php1,135,000 worth of livelihood grants to 57 OFWs who returned to our country),” DSWD spokesperson Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao said in a statement on Monday, as reported by the Philippine News Agency.
Beyond the livelihood track, the department channeled more than PHP9.6 million in financial aid to 1,818 workers, while a single OFW facing a crisis situation was granted PHP300,000 in medical support.
The agency’s running tally shows 6,588 services delivered to 4,398 returning workers across the country, with the combined value of that assistance exceeding PHP11 million. The package spans psychosocial first aid, psychosocial and financial support, medical coverage, and livelihood help under the SLP.
Dumlao said the livelihood program stays open to any returning worker, with regional field offices reaching out to interested OFWs and their relatives to walk them through enrollment.
The initiative answers a directive from President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to support OFWs caught in the regional crisis, and aligns with his administration’s Unified Package for Livelihoods, Industry, Food, and Transport (UPLIFT) framework.
That framework carries legal weight under Executive Order No. 11, series of 2026, through which Marcos declared a state of national energy emergency and adopted UPLIFT as the government-wide response for the sectors hit hardest by the Middle East conflict.
