Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 11) — Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia who are still waiting for their back wages from construction firms that declared bankruptcy from 2015 to 2019 will receive financial assistance from the Philippine government.
Under a memorandum of agreement signed by the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DWSD), the unpaid OFWs — numbering to about 10,000 — will each get ₱10,000.
“We will release the humanitarian assistance within the next two weeks with DMW-OWWA leading the distribution efforts,” DMW Secretary Susan Ople said in a statement.
A ₱100-million fund has been allocated for the program.
OWWA or the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration — an attached agency of the DMW — will create an electronic or digital portal that will allow the OFW beneficiaries to register and avail of the assistance.
The DMW-OWWA and the DSWD will also designate focal persons from their respective departments to oversee the process and monitor compliance in the disbursement of funds.
Ople added that the DMW and the DSWD are also coordinating on how to assist the children of the OFWs who were left in the guardianship of next of kin or household members.
