DISPLACED OFWS TO GET CASH AID

A$200-monthly subsidy will be provided to all overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who would lose their jobs because of the economic effect of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE).

“All OFWs abroad who lost their Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello jobs because of Covid-19 will be 3rd said on Wednesday. given a financial assistance of $200 Bello said the money might be [per month] until the virus is contained disbursed to the Filipino worker and the situation has normalized,” abroad or to the family in the Philippines

if he or she is a member of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).

He said the Department of Foreign Affairs was coordinating with concerned Philippine Overseas Labor Offices.

The Labor department is also ready to help repatriate OFWs who wanted to go home, particularly those in Italy, which is the new epicenter of Covid-19 with more than 4,000 deaths recorded.

The government is aware that many Filipinos abroad have lost their jobs and the government is monitoring their situation, Bello said.

But many jobless Filipinos also want to remain in the European country, hoping that they could find alternate jobs and the contagion would end soon.

There are some 170,000 Filipinos in Italy, which is in total lockdown.

OWWA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac said the agency was ready to provide the needed assistance to OFWs abroad who were affected by the pandemic.

“The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration remains committed to providing assistance to OFWs and their families,” Cacdac added.

DoLE is looking at about 70,000

OFWs who will be provided with $200 in cash assistance each.

For local workers, the DoLE regional offices reported a preliminary figure of 212,718 workers displaced due to the rapidly spreading coronavirus.

Of the total P1.5 billion available assistance package, DoLE have initially released P35 million to affected workers both those in the formal and informal sectors.

Bello said the Labor department was fast tracking the processing of companies that have submitted their establishment report so as those in immediate need would be able to benefit from this government assistance.

“We hope to cover at least 50 percent of those affected by next week,” he said.

At the same time, Bello also appealed anew to employers who were reported to have been withholding the salaries of their security agencies, which left their security guards helpless.

“I also wish to address those employees of security agencies that they may avail of the cash assistance from DoLE if they failed to report to their work due to the enhanced quarantine in their areas,” he said.