336,809 OFWS applied for DOLE aid but only 85,849 qualified
Published May 3, 2020 12:00 am
By Leslie Ann Aquino
More than 330,000 overseas Filipino workers affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have applied for the Department of Labor and Employment's Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong (AKAP) program.
(MANILA BULLETIN)
The Department of Labor and Employment said its Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (POLOs) in 40 posts across the globe and the offices of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) in the country already received 336,809 requests for assistance from both onsite and repatriated OFWs as of May 1.
Of the total applications, the Labor department said 85,849 OFWs were qualified and granted the one-time P10,000 or $200 cash assistance.
"Of the approved requests, 54,602 were processed on-site or in various POLOs and 31,247 were evaluated by OWWA,"said DOLE in a statement.
According to the Labor department, the number of approved assistance, from both land and sea-based workers, represents more than 50 percent of the target beneficiaries of 150,000 OFWs.
The DOLE earlier said overseas workers, both land-based and sea-based, who have been displaced by a lockdown in a foreign country will be given a one-time financial assistance amounting to P10,000 or USD200, or the equivalent amount in their host countries, under the AKAP program.
The program seeks to assist about 150,000 OFWs on-site or in host countries affected by lockdowns and those in the Philippines who are unable to return to their destinations.
DOLE said it has so far disbursed P482.9 million to 47,239 qualified OFWs.
The pay-outs by POLOs to 26,500 OFWs stood at P275.6 million and represents 40 percent of the allocated budget, it said.
For repatriated workers or balik-manggagawa, DOLE said OWWA has approved 31,247 beneficiaries and released to 20,739 OFWs the amount of P207,300,000 which is around 41 percent of the budget allocated for repatriates or balik-manggagawa.
Also eligible for AKAP assistance are OFWs who were repatriated for having been infected, or suspected to have been infected with COVID-19.
OFWs who are stranded in their job sites and/or experience “no work, no pay” due to pandemic since March 1, 2020 are also eligible for the cash aid.
(MANILA BULLETIN)
The Department of Labor and Employment said its Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (POLOs) in 40 posts across the globe and the offices of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) in the country already received 336,809 requests for assistance from both onsite and repatriated OFWs as of May 1.
Of the total applications, the Labor department said 85,849 OFWs were qualified and granted the one-time P10,000 or $200 cash assistance.
"Of the approved requests, 54,602 were processed on-site or in various POLOs and 31,247 were evaluated by OWWA,"said DOLE in a statement.
According to the Labor department, the number of approved assistance, from both land and sea-based workers, represents more than 50 percent of the target beneficiaries of 150,000 OFWs.
The DOLE earlier said overseas workers, both land-based and sea-based, who have been displaced by a lockdown in a foreign country will be given a one-time financial assistance amounting to P10,000 or USD200, or the equivalent amount in their host countries, under the AKAP program.
The program seeks to assist about 150,000 OFWs on-site or in host countries affected by lockdowns and those in the Philippines who are unable to return to their destinations.
DOLE said it has so far disbursed P482.9 million to 47,239 qualified OFWs.
The pay-outs by POLOs to 26,500 OFWs stood at P275.6 million and represents 40 percent of the allocated budget, it said.
For repatriated workers or balik-manggagawa, DOLE said OWWA has approved 31,247 beneficiaries and released to 20,739 OFWs the amount of P207,300,000 which is around 41 percent of the budget allocated for repatriates or balik-manggagawa.
Also eligible for AKAP assistance are OFWs who were repatriated for having been infected, or suspected to have been infected with COVID-19.
OFWs who are stranded in their job sites and/or experience “no work, no pay” due to pandemic since March 1, 2020 are also eligible for the cash aid.