The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) has said that the cash assistance program for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) displaced by the pandemic has stopped citing a lack of government funding.
Hans Leo Cacdac, OWWA administrator, said the program has been suspended till the passage of the proposed Bayanihan 3 law. The law includes funds for the Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong (AKAP) program.
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“The situation with the AKAP program is we still have pending applications. We are telling them to wait for the Bayanihan 3 law,” he said.
Cacdac said they are hoping that the next phase of the AKAP program will have at least a Php1.8-billion allocation.
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“I think at least 180,000 are still coming home. So the budget should be around that neighborhood for AKAP from Bayanihan 3,” he said.
Nearly P5.2 billion has been released under the AKAP for some 520,000 OFW beneficiaries. The AKAP program is the Department of Labor and Employment’s one-time emergency cash aid program which provides OFWs displaced by the pandemic $200 or P10,000. (AW)
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