P2.5B spent as cash aid for 245,000 displaced OFWs — DOLE

By: Cathrine Gonzales - Reporter / @cgonzalesINQINQUIRER.net / 01:18 PM September 09, 2020 MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has so far spent P2.5 billion to about 245,000 overseas Filipino workers displaced by the coronavirus disease pandemic. “Talking about AKAP (Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong) program, we have already spent P2.5 billion extended to about 245,000 OFWs,” Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said during the budget hearing of DOLE at the House committee on appropriations. Bello said P5 billion was previously allocated to Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) for the repatriation expenses of displaced OFWs, including the P1 billion for the continuation of the AKAP program. He said DOLE is hoping to have an additional budget for the initiative in 2021 to further aid displaced OFWs as the current funding may still be not enough, citing the large number of Filipinos working abroad whose jobs were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the additional P1 billion allocated by the Department of Budget and Management for the AKAP program, P400 million will be spent for the third quarter of 2020 and P600 million will be spent for the fourth quarter, according to OWWA administrator Hans Leo Cacdac. He said the distribution of cash assistance is ongoing for the third quarter, using cash remittance or the banking system. “As we speak, our regional welfare offices are already working with pending applications, so with the 400 million we are hoping to cover 40,000 more,” he added. “Dito sa Bayanihan (to Recover as One Act) meron na namang allocation doon. Malaki po ang pasalamat natin sa liderato ng Kongreso patungkol doon sa Bayanihan 2, so we are expecting a so-called fourth tranche very soon with respect to DOLE-AKAP,” Cacdac said. (Here in the Bayanihan 2, there will also be another allocation. We are really thankful to the leadership of the Congress. We are expecting a so-called fourth-tranche soon for DOLE-AKAP.) Under the DOLE-AKAP program, a one-time financial assistance of P10,000 or $200 will be given to OFWs whose employment were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposed 2021 budget for DOLE is at P27.5 billion, as part of the P4.506 trillion proposed national budget for next year, according to the National Expenditure Program submitted by the DBM to Congress.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

POPCOM, gagamit ng ‘digital platforms’ para pagtibayin ang mga ugnayang pampamilya

Mas pinalalawig ng Komisyon sa Populasyon at Pagpapaunlad (POPCOM) ang adhikain nitong pagpapalaganap at pagpapabuti ng pakikipag-ugnayan ng mga nakakatandang Pilipino sa kanilang mga anak na nagdadalaga at nagbibinata. Nitong Setyembre 21, ang POPCOM ay nagsagawa ng isang “parent-teen talk webinar” gamit ang Zoom, kung saan ang isang “interactive program” ang nagbigay ng naaayon na kaalaman at kasanayan sa mga magulang, habang tumulong ito sa mga anak na teenager na maabot ang kanilang buong potensyal. Hinikayat din nito ang mga nanay at tatay na sumali sa malayang usapan, lalo na sa mga usapin ukol sa sex at sekswalidad, na nakikitang makakatulong upang bumaba ang mga bilang ng mga pagbubuntis sa hanay ng mga kabataan. Maaaring mapanood ang webinar sa https://youtu.be/lZ9jrJCjYas. Ayon kay Ikalawang Kalihim (Undersecretary) Juan Antonio A. Perez III, MD, MPH, “ang webinar ay naging isang tagapag-simula at ‘padaluyan’ ng pag-uu
Read more

UP Diliman Professors Share Scientists’ Procurement Struggles at Senate Hearing

By Harvey Sapigao Senate hearing of the revised procurement law (Photo credit: Senate of the Philippines) College of Science (CS) Dean Giovanni Tapang held up a little white device as he finished his presentation. “This is a ₱150,000 component,” he described. “Isa lang gumagawa nito sa buong mundo, pero ang hirap pilitin sila na magregister sa PhilGEPS,” he continued, referring to the requirement that foreign companies must first register to the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) before they can sell products to local scientists. Marine Science Institute (MSI) Deputy Director Dr. Irene Rodriguez explained that the small device is a resin that filters metals in water. “May budget tayo,” she said, “pero ang problema ko ay ‘yung resin na ito.” This and other bottlenecks brought about by the procurement law, or the Government Procurement Reform Act (RA 9184), slow down research and development in the country. UPD leaders were invited to the Senate he
Read more

Gaza war rages into fourth month as Blinken tours Middle East Adel Zaanoun with Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem, --- Agence France-Presse

The Israel-Hamas war raging in Gaza entered its fourth month on Sunday as the army again pounded the besieged Palestinian territory and US top diplomat Antony Blinken was back in the region seeking to avoid a wider escalation. Israeli airstrikes overnight and early Sunday killed at least 64 people in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory, said its health ministry. It said two journalists were killed when their car was struck. The ministry, medics, and witnesses identified them as Mustafa Thuria, a video stringer for Agence France-Presse, and Hamza Wael Dahdouh, the son of Al Jazeera's bureau chief in Gaza who earlier lost his wife and two other children in an Israeli strike. Israeli bombardment also claimed other civilian lives in the southern city of Khan Yunis and in the Rafah area near the Egyptian border, where many of the territory's displaced people have sought refuge, AFP correspondents reported. Relatives were mourning the dead at Khan Yunis' European Hospital, am
Read more