The government will be looking for funding sources to augment the dwindling budget for the quarantine accommodations of returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
According to Presidential spokesman Harry Roque, Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado has promised to secure additional funds for the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to sustain such assistance for OFW repatriates.
OWWA has only P1.4 billion left in its P11-billion budget for quarantine assistance for OFWs upon arrival to the country as a precaution against the coronavirus illness. The agency would need an additional P9.8 billion to sustain these health accommodations for the returning Filipino workers, according to Roque.
"Sinasabi ng OWWA na mauubos ito by mid-May. Sabi naman ni Sec. Avisado na hahanapan ng pondo dahil kinakailangan ito (OWWA said it will be depleted by mid-May. Secretary Avisado said they will look for funds because it is necessary)," he said during a televised press briefing Thursday, April 22.
"Ngayon kinakailangan ng OWWA na popondohon ng ating gobyerno ay P9.884 billion (Now OWWA needs P9.884 billion which will be funded by the government)," he said.
The government's policy-making body on the pandemic has required returning Filipino workers to undergo a 14-day quarantine and get a negative test result before they are allowed to return to home provinces.
Previously, OFWs were tested upon arrival and allowed to go home as soon as get negative results.
Roque said OWWA’s expenses increased when the OFWs have been required to spend longer period under quarantine as a health precaution. He said the agency spends around P3,000 a day for an OFW's stay in a quarantine hotel or similar health facility.
In a televised address Wednesday, April 21, the President refused to cut short the quarantine period for OFW repatriates despite concerns about the dwindling budget of OWWA.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Silvestre Bello III earlier requested reducing the quarantine period from 14 days to 10 or nine days to ease the financial burden of the agency. Some medical experts maintained that there was a need to observe strict quarantine protocols to curb the spread of the illness in the country.
Duterte, in his remarks aired on state television, said he was "not ready for a compromise" on the matter amid concerns about the coronavirus situation in the country.
Roque said the matter will still be discussed in the meeting of the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).