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| DMW Secretary Hans Cacdac with OFWs in Lounge (File photo from DMW) |
Overseas Filipino workers flying out of Manila International Airport’s Terminal 1
will be able, starting Oct. 1, to access a new and bigger OFW Lounge that will have
enhancements such as separate sleeping areas for males and females.
In addition to the chairs in which they can lounge while waiting for their flights, they can also enjoy massage on four mechanized chairs donated by the the New NAIA Infrastructure Corp., the private operator of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) airport.
The lounge will also expand its free food offerings from the usual lugaw and pancit to breakfast, lunch and dinner sets, according to Administrator Patricia Yvonne Caunan of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), which runs the OWF Lounges in Terminals 1 and 3.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
And while in the lounge they might as well get their OWWA
e-card, which can be printed while they wait at the OWWA booth, as well as discuss
their employment concerns with personnel assigned to the Department of Migrant
Workers booth.
These features will also be added to the Terminal 3 lounge.
Caunan described the features of the new OFW Lounge in a press
briefing with DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac recently to deny earlier rumors
that OFW lounges will be closed because funds had run out.
She said OWWA even plans to open new ones in Cebu and Clark international airports.
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| Basahin ang detalye! |
The rumors started after the OFW Lounge in Terminal 1, located
in an area after the Immigration counters, closed down. It turned out that a
new lounge was being built in another area -- just after the check-in counters and
before the x-ray machines of the Office Transport Security and the Immigration
counters.
Cacdac belied the rumors that OWWA was running out of money to run the lounge.
“When it comes to budget, we now have a line item ‘Alagang
OWWA’, so it has been institutionalized and
imbedded in the overall cost of the government-facilitated journey of OFWs,”
Cacdac said.
“So sustainbility won’t be an issue. It will be integrated
into the operation of an airport,” he added.
