ILOILO City – The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Region 6 disbursed P27,110,000 worth of emergency assistance to 2,711 overseas Filipino workers in Western Visayas affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Officer-in-charge Rizza Joy Moldes said the amount was part of the P1.5-billion fund of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)-AKAP for OFWs through the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act.
Moldes said they already received a total of 16,768 applications from OFWs since the AKAP program was opened on April 13.
Of the total number of applications, 3,739 were already approved, 9,950 are still on process and 3,539 were endorsed to DOLE for funding and releasing, as of May 13.
OFWs who qualify to the program get a one-time cash assistance of P10,000 released through a remittance center.
Land-based and sea-based OFWs who were displaced due to COVID-19 are covered by the program.
Moldes advised applicants to prepare their proofs of arrival, overseas employment and loss of employment as requirements for submission.
Proofs of arrival include any of the following: airline ticket, boarding pass, arrival stamp on passport, disembarkation on seaman’s book, immigration sticker upon arrival and arrival sticker of the baggage.
Proofs of employment can be any of the following: verified employment contract, work permit/visa, residence IDs, CeC/BM exemption showing validity, employment offer certification from agency, and service record.
Any of the following can be submitted as proof of loss of employment: Termination Letter/Notice, cancellation of engagement, travel ban advisories, self-undertaking written with signature.
Moldes said application is ongoing and done online in strict observance of the social distancing precautionary measures.
“All our eligible OFWs have to do is visit the dole-akap.owwa.gov.ph to apply in the program to be able to avail of the cash aid from the government,” said Moldes. (PIA-Iloilo/PN)
