Photo from POEA
MANILA, Philippines — An overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who reported maltreatment from his employer was rescued and is now back in the Philippines after sending a distress signal via a mobile application developed to extend help to Filipinos working abroad.
The Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) identified the OFW as Almedo Lopez, who was able to come home just eight days after sending the SOS in the Abizo OFW App.
According to the POEA, Lopez was working in Namosa, Suva in the Fiji Islands as a quality supervisor for a bottling company but was allegedly harassed and verbally abused by his employer. Specifically, the POEA said Lopez was, among others, handed work suspension without due process, given 12-hour workdays, and compelled to accept a “voluntary” 20-percent pay cut.
The Abizo OFW App is a digital monitoring system that is part of the POEA’s OFW Global Monitoring Pilot Project, which was spearheaded by POEA Administrator Bernard Olalia.
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The POEA explained that the application aims to track the accurate number of OFWs at any given time, as well as monitor information on their deployment location, employers, and working and living conditions.
Through the app, the agency noted, OFWs can send emergency alerts, incident reports, update their contact information, and participate in surveys to help the POEA in their monitoring.
