Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 9)— President Rodrigo Duterte approved the release of an additional ₱5 billion fund that will cover the evacuation and aid packages for overseas Filipinos workers affected by the COVID-19 crisis, the Labor Department said Sunday.
In a statement, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello said a hefty chunk of the fresh funds will be released to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, which handles the evacuation efforts for OFWs affected by the global lockdowns.
“I have directed our POLOs (Philippine Overseas Labor Offices) to accelerate the processing of the assistance so that a greater number of our OFWs will benefit soonest from the aid coming from our government,” Bello said.
Aside from repatriation, OWWA also shoulders the COVID-19 tests of arriving OFWs, as well as their food and accommodation while awaiting test results and transport to their respective home provinces, the agency noted.
DOLE in July had sought for an additional ₱2.5 billion funding to help provide assistance for the affected workers, noting the funds previously released to them were “fast depleting.”
The government had earlier given the department ₱2.5 billion in two tranches to fund its program Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong, or AKAP, which provides displaced OFWs an emergency cash aid of $200 or ₱10,000 to help them cope with the crisis.
Latest government data showed that nearly 130,000 OFWs from various countries have been brought home since May 15.
Globally, the coronavirus has infected over 19 million individuals in 188 different countries including China, where the disease outbreak originated.
