More than 2 million Filipinos were employed as overseas workers in any given year over the decade preceding the pandemic; their remittances accounted for about 10 percent of the Philippines’ output.

But as the coronavirus savaged the world economy, many lost jobs abroad or were unable to take up positions because of travel restrictions. The government has set up an assistance program, offering cash payments of about $200 each to 280,000 migrant workers displaced by the pandemic at home and abroad, according to the Labor Department.

About 170,000 overseas workers have returned to the Philippines since February, official data show. In many cases, they find themselves just as vulnerable — if not more so — than they were abroad.

Now, returnees are recalibrating their lives, coming to terms with diminished earning power and prospects for their families.

Before the Philippines imposed a lockdown in March, Bong Florentino, a software engineer, and …continued .
[Source: Washington Post]