More than 230,000 overseas Filipino workers affected by the pandemic coronavirus are seeking cash assistance from the government, exceeding the set target of 150,000 beneficiaries for the P1.5-billion AKAP aid fund, the Department of Labor and Employment said Sunday.
The DOLE said it would request a supplemental budget to provide more OFWs with the needed emergency assistance.
The department said locally displaced workers ballooned to over two million, leading to an extended community quarantine to arrest the spread of the virus, while the number of displaced OFWs now approaches 100,000.
Based on reports by the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices in 40 posts abroad, 89,436 OFWs were either displaced or on a no-work, no-pay status due to lockdowns and slowdown of businesses in host countries.
As of April 24, the POLOs and the local offices of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration already received 233,015 requests for assistance under the COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program-AKAP emergency fund that provides a one-time P10,000 or $200 cash aid to qualified OFWs.
DOLE said of the total requests, 118,134 were received by POLOs from workers onsite while the remainder were submitted by repatriated OFWs to OWWA and DOLE regional offices in the country.
Among those seeking assistance, 49,040 OFWs are already set to receive cash aid after having met the requirements.
Both land- and sea-based workers, they were processed within 10 working days since the release of the AKAP funds on April 9, DOLE said.
Of those already getting the cash aid, close to 34,000 are onsite OFWs or those still staying in host countries despite the lockdowns, while more than 15,000 have been repatriated or those returning OFWs unable to depart to their country of destination.
DOLE also reported that OWWA and the POLOs had assisted 36,385 repatriated OFWs since the onset of the health crisis.
On local work displacement, meanwhile, DOLE said it had disbursed P1.7 billion of its regular funds to finance the one-time assistance of P5,000 under CAMP to 345,865 formal sector workers.
Another 259,449 informal sector workers benefitted from the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers Barangay Ko, Bahay Ko (TUPAD #BKBK) program amounting to P1.14 billion also from DOLE’s 2020 budget.
On April 15, DOLE stopped accepting requests for assistance under CAMP after having been swamped with volumes of applications quickly depleting its measly regular assistance fund.
Reports from DOLE regional offices showed a continued swelling of the number of displaced workers.
From 79,271 establishment reports submitted as of April 24, affected workers ballooned further to 2,073,362 nationwide.
Almost 1.4 million workers were displaced due to temporary closures while more than 687,000 had reduced incomes under alternative work arrangements like less workdays, rotation, forced leave and telecommuting.
About 90 percent of establishments which reported work displacements are seeking the CAMP assistance for their workers.
The National Capital Region recorded the highest displacement figure with 687,634 workers, followed by Central Luzon at 281,278 and Davao Region with 207,789.
Calabarzon reported 158,646 workers; Region 10 with 106,162; followed by Region 2 at 88,531; Central Visayas with 86,767; MIMAROPA at 74,533; Region 6 with 65,892 and the Bicol region with 65,757.
CAR recorded 63,957 workers, Region 8 with 49,362 and CARAGA at 39,711.
The areas with the least affected workers are Region 9 with 37,683; Region 1 at 32,017 and Region 12 with 27,643.
‘Probe 6 hospitals’
The Department of Justice on Sunday directed the National Bureau of Investigation to probe several hospitals that reportedly declined a woman seeking medical treatment after giving birth at home which led to her death.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said he ordered the NBI last Saturday to submit within 10 days its report on the death of Kathy Bulatao who was reportedly refused admission by six hospitals.
Reports showed that Bulatao gave birth inside her home in Caloocan City on the afternoon of April 24 with the help of a midwife.
Jan Christian Bulatao, the victim›s husband, said his wife suffered complications and was in need of an operation to remove the placenta from her uterus.
The hospitals were identified as the North Caloocan Doctors Hospital, the Commonwealth Hospital and Medical Center, the Far Eastern University Hospital in Fairview, the Bermudez Polymedic Hospital in Caloocan, the Skyline Hospital and Medical Center, and Grace General Hospital in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.
DILG supports relocation
The Interior department supports the proposal of administration Senator Lawrence “Bong” Go to relocate residents of Metro Manila back to their respective provinces through the “Balik Probinsya” program, seeing decongestion as a key to prevent the second wave of COVID-19 in the nation’s capital.
DILG Secretary Eduardo Año says COVID-19 spreads extensively in urbanized areas and Go’s ‘Balik Probinsiya’ program can be one of the long term solutions to decongest Metro Manila, where nearly 13 million people work and live.
Año says it is evident that NCR, as a densely populated area, is the hardest-hit region of the Philippines due to its ballooning number of citizens with a population density of 20,785 persons per square kilometrer based on the 2015 Census of Population.
Support for other sectors
Go also appealed to government agencies to provide as well support for other sectors of society whose livelihood had been adversely affected by COVID-19.
This is subject to the condition that there shall be no duplication of benefits from Social Amelioration Programs of other agencies.
“I have continuously appealed to all concerned agencies and LGUs that they should aim to perfect the distribution system of food and cash assistance as the government continues to address the COVID-19 situation,” Go said.
Medical supplies donated
To help equip the country’s health care system in flattening the curve, the Gatchalian family is donating medical supplies and complete sets of personal protective equipment worth P30 million.
The items will be turned over to the National Task Force COVID-19 and will be received by NTF COVID-19 Head and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and NTF COVID-19 Chief Implementer and Presidential Adviser on the Peace Reconciliation and Unity Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr.
A C-130 cargo plane carrying the supplies and equipment purchased from Fujian, China was scheduled to land Sunday at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City.
Pacquiao’s telemedicine
Following President Rodrigo Duterte’s second extension of the Enhanced Community Quarantine in Metro Manila and other parts of the country to May 15, Senator Manny Pacquiao endorsed the use of telemedicine to help ease up the pain and sufferings of Filipinos.
Speaking in an interview over dzMM, Pacquiao said the use of telemedicine could help Filipinos to cope with the effects of the ECQ when they needed medical consultations.
He also cited the long queues in hospitals due to problems on seeing their doctors not only due to COVID-19 but for other diseases.
Agri products distributed
Frontliners and quarantine-affected residents of Sultan Kudarat were given agri-products by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development to help them during the pandemic.
Sultan Kudarat State University l-Agricultural Technology Business Incubator donated 1,020 bottles of kalamansi (lemon) juice and 130 packs of mushroom products to residents of Tacurong City.
The town of Kalamansig received 1,000 bottles of kalamansi juice, 100 packs of mushroom pickles, 36 packs of coffee, and 10 packs of turmeric. With Butch Gunio
