OFW repatriation fund may dry up by August – DFA
OFW repatriation fund may dry up by August – DFA
DEPARTMENT of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary Sarah Lou Arriola is asking for more funding for the repatriation of thousands of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) stranded in host countries worldwide due to the pandemic.
Arriola told lawmakers at the hearing of the House Committee on Public Accounts on Friday that the P1 billion budget allocated for repatriation may dry up by August. She explained that a chartered flight that carries 350 passengers costs P13 million to P14 million.
“The bigger problem also, your honor[s], [is that] we have a very high utilization rate. And if we continue repatriating aggressively – since we already only have 30 to 31 percent of the remaining P1 billion funds for the assistance to our nationals – by the end of August or mid-August, we will not have funds for repatriation anymore,” bared Arriola.
The DFA has brought home over 56,000 OFWs, which included 31,031 seafarers and 25,259 land-based migrant workers. At present, there are still 167,000 OFWs stranded in host countries with the largest recorded in Saudi Arabia at 88,000. Only 6,342 had been repatriated from Saudi Arabia so far.
Arriola revealed that the DFA is planning to repatriate 37,660 more OFWs in the next 3 to 4 weeks. She calculated that this would be possible if they were allowed by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines to bring home 2,000 OFWs each day of the week. She disclosed that the DFA is also considering the capacity of government agencies to handle the surge in returning OFWs in terms of transporting them to their hometowns to prevent any from being stranded in Metro Manila.
Meanwhile, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) is also asking for a P5 billion supplemental fund for the accommodation and transportation of repatriated OFWs required to undergo mandatory quarantine. OWWA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac projected hotel expenses to reach P7 billion by the end of the year, draining a significant portion of the agency’s P18.6 billion funds. Cacdac said they are asking for additional funding, as they wanted to allocate the remaining funds for the livelihood and reintegration of repatriated OFWS rather than for hotels.
Meanwhile, the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) is also asking for additional funding for the cash assistance under its “Abot-Kamay ang Pagtulong sa OFWs” (AKAP) program. The program provides P10,000 cash assistance for each returning OFW. Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello 3rd said they have already approved 199,697 applications. Bello said the DoLE initially estimated only about 150,000 OFWs would avail the cash assistance, but they received 500,000 applications instead. Bello said they have used up P1.7 out of the total of P2.5 billion allocated for AKAP.
DEPARTMENT of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary Sarah Lou Arriola is asking for more funding for the repatriation of thousands of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) stranded in host countries worldwide due to the pandemic.
Arriola told lawmakers at the hearing of the House Committee on Public Accounts on Friday that the P1 billion budget allocated for repatriation may dry up by August. She explained that a chartered flight that carries 350 passengers costs P13 million to P14 million.
“The bigger problem also, your honor[s], [is that] we have a very high utilization rate. And if we continue repatriating aggressively – since we already only have 30 to 31 percent of the remaining P1 billion funds for the assistance to our nationals – by the end of August or mid-August, we will not have funds for repatriation anymore,” bared Arriola.
The DFA has brought home over 56,000 OFWs, which included 31,031 seafarers and 25,259 land-based migrant workers. At present, there are still 167,000 OFWs stranded in host countries with the largest recorded in Saudi Arabia at 88,000. Only 6,342 had been repatriated from Saudi Arabia so far.
Arriola revealed that the DFA is planning to repatriate 37,660 more OFWs in the next 3 to 4 weeks. She calculated that this would be possible if they were allowed by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines to bring home 2,000 OFWs each day of the week. She disclosed that the DFA is also considering the capacity of government agencies to handle the surge in returning OFWs in terms of transporting them to their hometowns to prevent any from being stranded in Metro Manila.
Meanwhile, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) is also asking for a P5 billion supplemental fund for the accommodation and transportation of repatriated OFWs required to undergo mandatory quarantine. OWWA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac projected hotel expenses to reach P7 billion by the end of the year, draining a significant portion of the agency’s P18.6 billion funds. Cacdac said they are asking for additional funding, as they wanted to allocate the remaining funds for the livelihood and reintegration of repatriated OFWS rather than for hotels.
Meanwhile, the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) is also asking for additional funding for the cash assistance under its “Abot-Kamay ang Pagtulong sa OFWs” (AKAP) program. The program provides P10,000 cash assistance for each returning OFW. Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello 3rd said they have already approved 199,697 applications. Bello said the DoLE initially estimated only about 150,000 OFWs would avail the cash assistance, but they received 500,000 applications instead. Bello said they have used up P1.7 out of the total of P2.5 billion allocated for AKAP.