P1.6 billion paid to 155,230 OFWs under DOLE AKAP program

The government has extended nearly ₱1.5 billion worth of cash aid to thousands of overseas Filipino workers and brought home more than 50,000 migrant workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Malacañang said Monday.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the government has distributed financial assistance to 155,230 OFWs under its Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong for OFWs or AKAP program, which has received an additional ₱1 billion funding to cover 250,000 workers. The initial ₱1.5 billion budget already reached 139,000 beneficiaries who received a cumulative ₱1.44 billion, as they got $200 (about ₱10,000) each through overseas labor offices to help them cope with the pandemic.

The program received 418,142 applications, of which 145,472 were approved, Roque said as he cited data from the Department of Labor and Employment.

At least ₱169 million released from the additional fund has so far covered 16,230 OFWs. Roque said 45,748 petitions for relief have been approved out of 92,555 applications. In total, the funds should cover up to 250,000 OFWs.

Meanwhile, Roque said that some 50,105 OFWs who were forced to fly home due to the global coronavirus crisis have been ferried to their home provinces in the past month. This comes after President Rodrigo Duterte gave a one-week deadline to send home all returning OFWs to their hometowns, following the congestion in quarantine centers.