THE Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) should extend financial aid to the families here at home of Filipino workers in Russia who might face cash remittance difficulties due to harsh international sanctions against that country, mayoral aspirant Mike Defensor of AnaKalusugan party-list said on Friday.

“The global sanctions are bound to hit Russia’s banking system very hard, possibly obstructing the money transfers of the more than 10,000 Filipino workers there,” Defensor said.

“We are counting on the OWWA to reach out to the families here at home of our workers in Russia, and to provide them temporary financial relief,” Defensor said.

Citing Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) statistics, Defensor said Filipino workers in Russia sent home via the banking system a total of P115.8 million ($2.3 million) in 2021.

The Philippine embassy in Russia estimates that 95% of the Filipinos there are employed as household service workers, cleaners, cooks, drivers, and nannies, mostly in Moscow.

The international community has imposed severe economic and financial sanctions against Russia as punishment for invading Ukraine.

“The financial sanctions in particular would effectively block Russian banks from corresponding with virtually all major banks around the world,” Defensor said.

Meanwhile, the AnaKalusugan representative said the Philippine government should be prepared to bring home Filipino workers in Russia who may wish to be repatriated.

“The prospect that some of our workers there might lose their jobs is very real, considering the projections that the Russian economy might plunge into a depression due to the global sanctions,” Defensor said.

“We are not that worried about the less than 400 Filipinos in Ukraine because they are already undergoing repatriation,” Defensor said.

Filipinos in Ukraine sent home a total of P6.2 million ($121,000) in cash remittances via the banking system in 2021.

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Ryan Ponce Pacpaco