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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider DOLE receives P1B funding to aid OFWs

DOLE receives P1B funding to aid OFWs

Published May 14, 2020 12:00 am
By Leslie Ann Aquino The Department of Labor and Employment received an additional funding of P1 billion for its Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong program for overseas Filipino workers. Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III speaks before the media during a press conference with President Rodrigo Duterte in Davao City on Friday. The government has imposed a ban on deployment of Filipino workers in Kuwait following the death of domestic helpers due to alleged abuses of their employers. (Keith Bacongco) Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III
(Keith Bacongco / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) "I just received notice from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) that they have increased our funds because they know it will run short. It is good that they pitied us and gave us another P1 billion," Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said during the Laging Handa press briefing, Thursday, May 14. According to the labor chief, they originally requested for a P2.5 billion additional budget but was granted P1 billion. "We requested an additional budget of P2.5 billion hoping that this will be sufficient to answer for the estimated OFWs who will be affected by the COVID, but they gave us P1 billion," said Bello. With the additional funding, he said they will continue to accept applications for AKAP. "For as long as there is money we will accept applications (for cash assistance)," Bello said. "We will give this to OFWs because they really need it," he added. According to DOLE, it received more than 400,000 applications for AKAP, a total of 142,550 of which have been approved. The DOLE earlier said overseas workers, both landbased and seabased, 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.
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