By Marita Moaje
MANILA – The Philippine government, through the Migrant Workers Office in Washington D.C. (MWO-WDC), has provided financial assistance to two ailing overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the United States and to the widow of another OFW who recently passed away.
In a news release on Thursday, the Department of Migrant Workers said the support was made possible through the Department of Migrant Workers’ (DMW) AKSYON Fund.
The DMW said the two OFWs, currently admitted in separate hospitals in Miami, Florida each received PHP75,000, or approximately USD1,345.
“One of the OFWs suffered a heart attack and was medically evacuated from Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba, in February 2025. He is undergoing treatment at the Jackson Memorial Perdue Medical Center,” the DMW said.
“The other OFW is a cruise ship seafarer receiving medical attention at the ICU (intensive care unit) of HCA Florida Kendall Hospital. He was found unconscious in his cabin at Margaritaville at Sea cruise ship on April 23, 2025 and was rushed to the hospital,” it added.
The MWO-WDC team visited the hospitalized OFWs on May 19 and 20 to personally deliver the assistance and check on their condition.
Meanwhile, the DMW also extended support to the wife of another OFW stationed at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.
“The wife of another Guantanamo Bay Naval Base employee received PHP100,000.00 (US$1,793.00) cash assistance after her husband passed away on May 17, 2025 while confined at the Jackson Memorial Hospital for stage four lung cancer,” the DMW said.
It said the wife of the deceased OFW flew to Florida from the Philippines and was met by the MWO-WDC team, who offered condolences and extended financial aid.
“We have extended the assistance in pursuit of the thrust of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac to come to the aid of OFWs and their families wherever they are and wherever needed,” Labor Attaché Saul De Vries said. (PNA)
