The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Sunday reported that 106,200 overseas Filipino workers have already been transported to their home provinces.
According to DOLE, the latest batch of 2,246 home-bound OFWs, who tested negative for COVID 19, took their rides back to their respective provinces on July 25.
In May, over 34,000 OFWs were transported home while an additional 72,000 more were ferried in the succeeding months.
In a statement, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the government will exhaust all means to help OFWs regain jobs they lost abroad due to the pandemic.
The Labor department also reported that it has already exceeded the 250,000 OFW beneficiaries of the P2.5-billion emergency fund for Covid 19 affected migrant workers.
Based on latest reports from DOLE’s overseas offices and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) showed that 254,846 requests for assistance under the Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong (AKAP) program had been approved, with 214,619 OFWs already receiving the emergency aid.
AKAP is one-time cash assistance of $200 or P10,000 for onsite and repatriated OFWs affected by the pandemic.
DOLE said it has so far disbursed P2.232 billion of the P2.5-billion program fund as of July 21. It has requested an additional P2.5 billion in order to service the needs of more OFWs seeking assistance.
About 554,966 migrant workers have sought the government cash aid, said the Labor department.