President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is scheduled to sit down with key leaders of Japan’s maritime sector during his four-day state visit to Tokyo, according to Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Administrator Patricia Yvonne “PY” Caunan.
Speaking shortly before the Chief Executive’s departure from the Philippines, Caunan emphasized the strategic importance of the meeting, highlighting that Filipino mariners comprise more than half of the workforce in Japanese shipping enterprises.
While the OWWA chief did not disclose the specific number of corporations participating in the dialogue, she underscored the deep reliance of the Japanese naval market on Filipino talent.
“70 percent ng kadete sa mga Japanese-owned na mga vessels po ay Filipino po, ganoon po ang kanilang tiwala sa atin pong mga marino and malaking market po, (70 percent of cadets on Japanese-owned vessels are Filipinos, that is how much they trust our mariners and it is a huge market,)” Caunan stated during a morning broadcast on the state-run PTV network.
The President, who is slated to land in Tokyo on the evening of May 26, will kick off his trip by engaging with the local Filipino community. Figures from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) indicate that Japan is currently home to roughly 340,000 Filipinos, who are predominantly employed in engineering, education, and healthcare fields.
“Makikita po dito iyong mensahe of course ng ating Pangulo, lagi po niyang sinasabi sa kaniyang mga talumpati before the FilCom how proud he is of our OFWs at tuloy-tuloy lang po ang kaniyang direktiba sa amin ni Secretary Hans Cacdac na ibigay ang buong serbisyo, make our services accessible at makatao para sa atin pong mga kababayang mga OFW at siyempre iyong kanilang mga pamilya, (You can see here the message of course of our President, he always says in his speeches before the Filipino Community how proud he is of our OFWs and his directive remains continuous for me and Secretary Hans Cacdac to give full service, make our services accessible and humane for our fellow OFWs and of course their families,)” Caunan added.
In a parallel development addressing domestic reintegration, Caunan announced that OWWA has rolled out 10,000 new scholarship grants tailored for returning overseas workers who wish to pursue higher education.
Recognizing that many of these scholars double as the primary breadwinners for their households, the agency has secured external partnerships to provide them with a sustainable monthly living allowance.
The educational safety net comes on the heels of extensive repatriation efforts by the Philippine government, which has successfully brought home around 10,000 citizens from the Middle East since regional conflicts erupted in early 2026.