BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — The Philippine Departments of Education and Migrant Workers assured overseas Filipino teachers Thursday that guaranteed public school positions await them if they choose to return home, as the government intensifies efforts to draw skilled workers back from abroad.
Officials from both agencies in the Cordillera Administrative Region outlined the mechanics of the Sa Pinas Ikaw ang Ma’am at Sir, or SPIMS, program during a press briefing, emphasizing that returning teachers will not compete with local applicants for positions.
“Once the DMW gives the pre-screened list, they are assured of a job in the DepEd,” said Arnel Billy Lim, human resource officer of the Department of Education-Cordillera Administrative Region.
Under the program, overseas Filipino workers with teaching backgrounds apply through the Department of Migrant Workers, which provides reskilling training before endorsing qualified candidates to the education department’s central office. Applicants are then deployed to appropriate regional division offices.
Returning teachers — including those who have been abroad for many years or worked outside education — will receive professional development training, a teacher induction program, and updated instruction on teaching principles and practices.
At least 97 overseas Filipino workers were hired as teachers in the Cordillera in 2025. Another 104 have been hired for school year 2026-2027 and are expected to report before Aug. 28.
DMW-CAR Regional Director Cheryl Daytec-Yangot said teaching positions created under SPIMS are based on actual school needs and do not reduce opportunities for local applicants. OFW teachers who returned to the Philippines within the past three years remain eligible, and applicants are processed regardless of their current foreign employment status.
“They go through the same process as local applicants but they are assured an item and will not compete with others for the position,” Daytec-Yangot said.
The SPIMS program is part of the broader “Bayanihan para sa Balikbayang Manggagawa” initiative under the National Reintegration Program, which aims to help returning overseas workers leverage the financial, social, and professional skills they acquired abroad as they rebuild their lives in the Philippines.
