The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) on Wednesday assured lawmakers that the government has sufficient funds to assist overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and to support repatriation operations should the conflict in the Middle East escalate.
The assurance came during a joint hearing of the House Committees on Foreign Affairs and on Overseas Workers Affairs, where government agencies briefed lawmakers on the resources available to respond to possible evacuation and assistance needs upon the request of House Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte 1st District Rep. Ferdinand Alexander Marcos.
Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said the agency’s Aksyon Fund has P200 million ready for deployment, with another P800 million expected from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
“Thus far, the funds have been downloaded to the respective posts, and they are adequate. We are poised to download P200 million more to replenish and, as I said, still awaiting a release from the DBM for P800 million,” Cacdac told lawmakers.
“These are all workable. We have a very strong coordinative relationship with the DBM,” he added.
The DMW-managed Aksyon Fund is a multibillion-peso welfare fund designed to provide rapid assistance to OFWs in distress. It covers legal, medical, repatriation, and humanitarian support, particularly for workers who require rescue or are caught in crisis or conflict situations abroad.
For her part, OWWA Administrator Patricia Yvonne Caunan said their Emergency Repatriation Fund (ERF) remains largely intact and available if large-scale evacuation becomes necessary, as only a portion of the ERF has been used so far: “We are at a utilization rate of 18 percent as we speak. So that would bring us down to a balance of P1.4 billion.”
She added that OWWA remains in close coordination with the DBM, should additional resources be needed.
Meanwhile, Agimat party-list Rep. Bryan Revilla, chair of the Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs, has since welcomed the assurance that government funds are available to support Filipinos should the crisis worsen.
“It is very important that our countrymen know that our government has a fund that is ready for those in need,” Revilla said in Filipino.
