DOLE, OWWA give P33-M to distressed Cordi OFWs

By Liza Agoot  

BAGUIO CITY – The Departments of Labor and Employment and Welfare recently released a total of P33 million to distressed overseas foreign workers from the Cordillera.
    At the Benguet Provincial Inter-Agency Task Force meeting on Monday, Windelyn Marquez, OIC Program and Services Division of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration- Cordillera Administrative Region (OWWA-CAR), reported that the government through their agency and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE-CAR) was released P23.740 million to 3,352 OFWs who were stranded in the country following the declaration of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in March, while 22 dependents of OFWs received educational assistance.
    The P33.52 million was released under the “Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong (AKAP)” program and the P220,000 were released under the Education Assistance through Scholarship in Emergencies (EASE).
    She said that as of Oct. 23, OWWA has released P13.55 million for both programs while the DOLE-CAR has released P20.19 million for the AKAP bringing to P33.74 million the total cash assistance for both programs jointly funded by the two agencies.
    She said that under the AKAP program, money was released in five tranches as the agencies continued to process the eligibility of OFWs to the P10,000 one-time assistance.
    She said there were 4,208 applications received.
    Of the number, 3,483 were approved while 157 are still being evaluated.
    There were 1,456 OFWs from Baguio who benefited from the assistance. Abra has 526, Benguet has 724, Apayao with 103, Ifugao with 195, Kalinga has 242 and 106 in Mountain Province.
Dependents of the OFWs also benefited from the EASE program of OWWA who received P10,000 financial assistance this year that will be stretched for four years.
    As of October 25, there were 22 beneficiaries who received P10,000 assistance from OWWA or a total of P220,000.
    Aside from the monetary assistance, the OWWA also facilitated the return of 4,841 OFWs who were stranded in Metro Manila to their respective hometowns in the Cordillera.
    Marquez also reported that they have facilitated the return of 1,108 residents to the province from May 1 to October 25. About 994 of them arrived on board the sweeper buses provided by the OWWA under the “Uwian na” program for returning OFWs.
    Through the coordination of different government agencies, the travel requirement of returning OFWs were facilitated allowing them to pass through checkpoints and enter their respective provinces.
    She said the returning OFWs were subjected to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test as soon as they enter the country and are brought to the quarantine facilities while waiting for the results. In the process, the agencies also do the coordination for their trips back home to their families. -- PNA