Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Ma. Cynthia 'Cindi' King-Chan led the distribution of 10 kilos of rice to 49 distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their families on Tuesday, June 30, 2026, at the Public Employment Service Office (Peso) in Barangay Gun-ob.
Repatriation due to Middle East conflict
Peso manager Kim Francisco said most of the displaced workers were repatriated because of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which made their workplaces unsafe. Others returned due to health issues.
'Because of the conflict we experienced in the Middle East, many OFWs were affected. Some of them were forced to return home because the places where they worked were no longer safe,' Francisco said in an interview.
Francisco added that family members of affected OFWs initially sought assistance from Peso, while others contacted the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW). These agencies consolidated the list of beneficiaries for the city's relief distribution.
Love scam victim shares story
One of the displaced workers, a 29-year-old father, worked as a customer service representative (CSR) in Cambodia but returned to Cebu after unknowingly becoming involved in a love scam operation.
'We were stranded there because our passports had been withheld. We couldn't go out because we were afraid the police would arrest us,' he recalled.
He said he responded to a Facebook advertisement for a CSR position offering a salary of US$1,000. He later discovered the company was running a love scam scheme. He left for Cambodia in September 2025, but within three months authorities raided the company. He and his fellow workers were left stranded and sought assistance from the Philippine Embassy. He returned to Cebu on June 10, 2026, thanks to the embassy's help.
Warning to job seekers
Reflecting on his experience, he urged Filipinos seeking employment abroad to carefully verify online job offers before accepting them to avoid becoming victims of fraudulent recruitment schemes.
