House ready to augment funds for OFWs’ repatriation, solon says

Repatriated Overseas Filipino Workers or OFWs arrive at an airport after being allowed to go home following weeks of quarantine amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines May 26, 2020. REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives is ready to augment funds for the repatriation of the more than 100,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who remain stranded due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)  pandemic, Anakalusugan party-list Rep. Mike Defensor said Friday.

Defensor, who chairs the House Committee on Public Accounts conducting an inquiry on the repatriation of OFWs amid the pandemic, said the augmentation can be included in the proposed Bayanihan to Recover as One Act or Bayanihan 2, which is expected to be approved once Congress opens its second regular session.

“We have to get all of our workers who have been rendered jobless by the COVID-19 pandemic home to be with their loved ones. We can appropriate in Bayanihan 2 additional funds for their repatriation and reintegration once they are here,” Defensor said in a statement.

“The DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) has promised to fly home an additional 50,000 OFWs this month, while other agencies, including the Department of Labor and Employment and the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration, are prepared to receive, process and help them, given them aid and get them to their families,” the lawmaker added.

During the hearing conducted on July 14, 2020, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Sarah Lou Arriola said that of the P1 billion assistance-to-nationals fund of the foreign affairs department, only 23.2 percent or P232.9 million remain.

Arriola said that with the rate of repatriation, the funds would not be enough.

“I think half of this will be used for the next two weeks and by mid-August, we will not have funds anymore,” Arriola said.

“Through the generosity of Secretary [Teodoro] Locsin, he says that he’s going to realign our budget for retrofitting pero gusto din po naming sabihin na ‘yung building namin ay sobrang luma na. In fact, our facade is not that stable anymore,” she added.

(Through the generosity of Secretary [Teodoro] Locsin, he says that he’s going to realign our budget for retrofitting but I would like to say that our building is already old. In fact, our facade is not that stable anymore.)

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