Returning MP OFWs get gov’t assistance

By Juliet Saley

BONTOC, Mountain Province – Some 140 returning overseas Filipino workers from the province benefited from the Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong (AKAP) program of the Dept. of Labor and Employment.
    Edna Bangaan of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) provincial office said the AKAP is a one-time financial assistance of P10, 000 given to OFWs affected by Covid-19.
    Two also availed of the EASE (Educational Assistance through Scholarship in Emergencies) which provides educational assistance of P10, 000 per annum to qualified dependents of OFWs whose employment was affected by Covid-19 pandemic.
    There were also three beneficiaries of TABANG OFW which provides a one-time grant of P30, 000 for collegiate level dependents of returning OFWs affected by Covid-19.
    Meanwhile, the Uwian na program for stranded returning OFWs assisted 315 OFWs from the province as of Dec. 15.
    Bangaan said 223 or 71 percent of the total assisted OFWs from the province were ferried by the provincial government through the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office.
    According to provincial accountant Theodore Marrero, the province spent P1, 227,000 from its 2020 quick response fund for rental of vans that ferried repatriated OFWs from Baguio City to their respective homes.
    Seventy six OFWs were ferried by their respective municipal local government units from drop off point, while 16 OFWs were ferried by private cars.
    DOLE and OWWA provide assistance to returning OFWs to help them face the Covid-19 pandemic. PIA Mt. Province