22 March 2005 – The DFA Regional Consular Office in Iloilo (RCO Iloilo) together with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) for Region 6 and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) Regional Extension Unit yesterday signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with IBC-DYBQ Budyong Radyo for the production of “OFW Hotline”, a two-hour weekly radio public service program that aims to disseminate the government’s programs and projects concerning the welfare of overseas Filipino workers and their families.

Ms. Liza Jane V. Estrella, Officer-in-Charge of RCO Iloilo, with authority from Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alberto G. Romulo, represented the DFA in the MOA-signing.  The other signatories were OWWA Regional Director Saul de Vries, POEA Officer-in-Charge Rhea Glynda Calantas and IBC-DYBQ Station Manager Cora Paniengo-Robles.

OFW Hotline will be aired in Western Visayas over IBC-DYBQ, 981 kHz on the AM band every Sunday from 1:00 to 3:00 in the afternoon.  During its pilot broadcast on 13 February 2005, the program easily attracted many listeners as seen from the numerous phoned-in questions and calls received from the public during subsequent airings.

Sponsored by the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) and The Guardian, a local newspaper in Western Visayas, OFW Hotline is able to link OFWs from various parts of the globe with their families here at home by providing free long distance calls with live radio coverage.  The latest programs, projects, advisories and other OFW concerns from the DFA, OWWA, POEA and other related agencies are likewise featured in the program.

Through OFW Hotline, RCO Iloilo expects to gain better access to the people of Western Visayas, especially those living in far-flung areas who are dependent solely on the radio for news and other updates.

By conducting a regular program for OFWs, RCO Iloilo hopes to encourage more people in the Western Visayas region to avail themselves of and benefit from its mobile passport services that are supported by the local government units in the Region.  Interested parties are also encouraged to avail of the assistance-to-nationals services and the ongoing Education Program for OFWs and Emigrants being done by RCO Iloilo.  END.