By Hazel F. Gloria
CEBU CITY,
Oct 24 (PIA) --- The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA-7) held
recently the awarding of the Search for the Model OFW Family of the Year
(MOFYA) at Casino Español de Cebu, Cebu City.
OWWA-7 regional director
Wilfreda Misterio in her message said, this search is an award-giving program
held annually and it is designed to give recognition to outstanding OFW
families in promoting best practices in managing family amidst challenges.
MOFYA aims to promote
success stories about the OFW families’ endurance over the challenges on their
family relations and uplift the image of the OFW families in the community.
Misterio continued, the
search focuses on OFWs and their families who have maintained strong family
relations, who are active in socio-civic activities in the community where they
reside, properly managed the financial benefits from the OFWs’ overseas
employment, have educational achievements and who have excellent performance in
their respective professions.
MOFYA has two
categories, the Land-Based Category and the Sea-Based Category.
During the search, three
(3) finalists were nominated for each Sea-Based and Land-Based categories and
one (1) from each category will be declared winner to represent Region 7 in the
national search.
Elmer Kitong, a master
mariner, and his family who are from Poblacion, Siquijor, Siquijor,
was the winner in the Sea-Based Category while Daanbantayan Mayor Augusto
Corro, a former drilling consultant abroad, and his family, who resides at
Suba, Poblacion, Daanbantayan, won the Land-Based Category.
Both winners received
plaques of recognition and will represent Central Visayas in their
respective categories at the national level on the first week of December
this year.
Based on the recent
statistics from OWWA-7, there are 162,323 OFWs in Central Visayas and 61% of
these are males while 39% are females.
The top 3 countries of
destination are United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Singapore while the top
3 skills of the OFWs are household Service Worker, able seaman and nurse.
Now on its 10th year,
the MOFYA has become a symbol of the unity and solidarity of the Filipino
family, despite the challenges that OFW families face in modern times.
The MOFYA recognizes the
determination of OFW families to balance the necessity for financial needs and
for family unity, Misterio concluded.(mbcn/HFG/PIA-7)