Ex-PCSO chief takes over OWWA

A new Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) chief officially assumed the post yesterday, replacing Wilhelm Soriano who has been on sick leave since August.

Virgilio Angelo, who served as general manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) prior to his appointment, took over the post amid a string of controversies.

Soriano, who went on sick leave after engaging in a word war with Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas over alleged mismanagement of OWWA funds, did not formally resign from his post.

But senior labor officials said he wanted to be one of the commissioners at the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC), an attached agency of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

Upon assuming his post, Angelo told The STAR that his priority was to increase the funds of OWWA and distribute the benefits to overseas Filipino worker who are OWWA members.

He said overseas workers should be the first beneficiaries of the OWWA, although he also promised to provide benefits to the agency’s employees on the basis of merit.

Angelo said he would use his 30-year experience in a financial institution to enhance the viability of OWWA funds and thus provide adequate and stable benefits to OFWs.

In the last few years, OWWA’s fund has suffered due to bad investments made by past administrators.

As head of the OWWA board of trustees, Sto. Tomas initiated an investigation into the alleged mismanagement of the agency’s funds, notably the P1 billion it has invested in the Smokey Mountain Project without the approval of the board.

Following the probe, Soriano, who approved the investment, engaged in a word war with Sto. Tomas that ended with the former filing a sick leave allegedly due to severe back pains.