OWWA says cash aid for OFWs on hold

MANILA, Philippines — The cash assistance program for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) displaced by the pandemic has been put on hold due to lack of funds, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) confirmed recently.

OWWA administrator Hans Leo Cacdac said the program has been suspended pending the passage of the proposed Bayanihan 3 law, which includes funds for the Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong (AKAP) program.

“The situation with the AKAP program is we still have pending applications. We are telling them to wait for the Bayanihan 3 law,” he said at a press briefing Friday.

Cacdac noted they are hoping that the next phase of the AKAP program will have at least a P1.8-billion allocation.

“I think at least 180,000 are still coming home. So the budget should be around that neighborhood for AKAP from Bayanihan 3,” he said.

So far, some P5.2 billion has been released under the AKAP for some 520,000 OFW-beneficiaries.

AKAP is the Department of Labor and Employment’s one-time emergency cash aid program which grants OFWs displaced by the pandemic $200 or P10,000.