Manila: A total of 346 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who were victims of human trafficking and forced labor in online scam hubs in Myanmar were repatriated by the Philippine government on Wednesday. In a press briefing at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) stated that this group marked the largest single batch of repatriates from Myanmar to date.
According to Philippines News Agency, Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac reported that the repatriated individuals were in good spirits. They will receive psychosocial counseling and medical checkups from the Department of Health (DOH). Cacdac assured the returnees of support, including transportation and accommodation assistance, provided by the government.
The OFWs were flown back to the Philippines on a chartered flight led by the DMW Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) team, in collaboration with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in Bangkok. They arrived at NAIA Terminal 1 aboard Philippine Airlines flight PR8502 and were taken to a secured holding facility.
The repatriation was conducted under the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., who emphasized the importance of bringing home all Filipinos trafficked to Myanmar and other neighboring countries. Besides financial assistance, Cacdac promised the victims employment facilitation to prevent them from returning to illegal or dangerous situations.
The group of repatriates included 127 individuals formally identified as trafficking victims and 219 others from the Mae Sot Immigration Facility in Thailand. Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) Executive Secretary Hannah Lizette Manalili mentioned that investigators from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) would look into potential facilitators and recruiters involved in the trafficking.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development and OWWA will provide financial and reintegration aid, while the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority will offer skills training vouchers. OWWA Administrator Patricia Yvonne Caunan emphasized their mandate to support the welfare of OFWs, especially those affected by human trafficking.
Caunan noted that many victims were lured by social media job ads promising high salaries but were instead forced to work in cyber-scam centers under harsh conditions. Some were smuggled through backdoor routes in Palawan and Tawi-Tawi, bypassing immigration checks. The Philippine government is coordinating with Thailand and Myanmar to combat trafficking syndicates and identify Filipinos still trapped in scam compounds, particularly in Myawaddy, Myanmar’s notorious border town for illegal operations.
Since 2022, the DMW has documented over 1,900 Filipino victims rescued from scam hubs in Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos. As of October 2025, at least 222 Filipinos are still in Myanmar awaiting repatriation assistance.
Both Cacdac and Caunan reiterated warnings against unverified online recruitment offers. They stressed the importance of following the proper processes through the Department of Migrant Workers for working abroad, highlighting the availability of legal job opportunities on the DMW website.
