More than 14,000 displaced overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Ilocos Region have already received their “ayuda” or the cash assistance from the government, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said Saturday, April 17.
Under the department’s Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong (AKAP), a total of 14,097 land-based and sea-based workers have been provided with P10,000 one-time financial assistance which translated to P140,970,000 distributed cash aid., according to DOLE regional director Evelyn R. Ramos.
An OFW in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Marjorie Liao, a 38-year-old resident of Candon City, Ilocos Sur is among the beneficiaries of the program. Liao works as a Junior sous chef at a hotel in Dubai but had to return home after the hotel temporarily halted its operations.
Liao was set to return to work on March 14, 2020 but has not been able to leave the country due to the lockdowns.
“It is really saddening because we have families to support,” Liao said.
According to DOLE, the OFW used the P10,000 to start a small food business in their place.
To be eligible for the AKAP, OFWs must be among those have experienced job displacement due to the receiving country’s imposition of community quarantine or having been infected by the disease; must be still at overseas job sites, or in the Philippines as Balik-Manggagawa, or already repatriated to the Philippines; and must not receive any financial support/assistance from the receiving countries/employers.
The OWWA evaluates all AKAP applications and submits those approved to the DOLE for the processing and release of assistance through partner remittance centers.