Some 150,000 land-based and sea-based Overseas Filipino Workers that were displaced due to COVID-19 will receive a one-time P10,000 cash assistance, the Department of Labor and Employment said.
The department has launched ‘Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong’ (AKAP) assistance program that will cover regular or documented OFWs, and undocumented workers that have “undertaken” actions towards regularization or active members of Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).
“The Department of Labor and Employment has already prepared the guidelines of the DOLE-AKAP assistance program for OFWs to ensure its effective and streamlined implementation,” Secretary Silvestre Bello III said Wednesday.
Bello further explained that beneficiaries of the said program may also include those who weren’t able to return due to lockdown and those who are repatriated, given that they have not received any cash assistance from the receiving countries or employers.
To avail of the program “on-site” OFWs must submit an accomplished application form for the special cash assistance which is downloadable at their respective POLO website or social media account, a photocopy of their passport and/or travel documents, proof of overseas employment, such as a valid OEC, residence ID, visa, reentry-visa etc, proof of loss of employment on account of the Covid-19 disease and proof of a pending case that has caused their current “undocumented status, such as case reference number, case endorsement stamped by the POLO, etc. to their respective Philippine Overseas Local Offices (POLO).
On the other hand, the Balik Manggagawa, or repatriated OFWs are required to submit an accomplished application form for special cash assistance downloadable at www.dole-akap.owwa.gov.ph website, copy of passport or travel documents, proof of overseas employment, such as valid OEC, residence ID, visa/re-entry visa, etc. and proof of loss of employment due to the Covid-19 disease to their regional and local OWWA offices.
According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, thirteen more OFWs today have contracted COVID-19 bringing total to 607, 171 of which have already recovered and 72 succumbed to the coronavirus.
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