Sixty distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFW) from Jordan were set for repatriation to join their families in the Philipines in time for the New Year celebrations, a Jordan-based source said Thursday. The OFWs are former domestic helpers who ran away from their employers for various reasons – ranging from maltreatment, physical and sexual abuse to non-payment of salaries. The mass repatriation was rushed by the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO), headed by acting Labor Attache Ofelia Castro-Hudson, and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA). The Philippine embassy in Amman, Jordan's capital, hastened to solve criminal charges filed against some of the OFWs, including settlements of deployment costs and penalties for overstaying. While awaiting repatriation, the runaway OFWs were taken cared of by the Filipino Workers Resource Center (FWRC) of the POLO office in Amman.The source said he wasn't sure if they OFWs could leave Thursday.
