DoLE says P2.5-B fund for OFWs has run out

GOVERNMENT AID for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) amid a coronavirus pandemic has surpassed its limits, prompting the Labor department to seek more funds.

“It has already exceeded the 250,000 OFW beneficiaries of the P2.5-billion emergency fund for COVID-19-affected migrant workers,” the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) said in a statement on Sunday.

The agency had received about half-a-million applications from Filipino migrant workers, half of which were approved, it said.

DoLE said P2.232 billion of the P2.5-billion program fund had been released to beneficiaries as of July 21. Migrant workers get a one-time cash out of P10,000 under the program.

The agency earlier said the funding was only good for 250,000 beneficiaries. It is seeking P2.5 billion more from Congress.

DoLE said more than 100,000 OFWs who got stranded had been sent home to their provinces.

“More than 106,200 overseas Filipino workers repatriated by the government amid the coronavirus pandemic have been transported to their home provinces,” it said. — Gillian M. Cortez