The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) announced that they will start offering group livelihood loans for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
OWWA Administrator Hans Cacdac made the announcement during the senate hearing on OFWs early this week.
“Three weeks ago nag-approve ang OWWA board chaired by Secretary [Silvestre] Bello III ng group livelihood. It’s a 500-M facility, it’s a [loan] grant P150,000 to P1 million ang maiga-grant natin,” Cacdac said.
“It’s a group livelihood program. We’re set to roll this out in September,” Cacdac added.
The OWWA Board sees that group livelihood loans are more likely to be successful than individual livelihood assistance.
“Batay sa karanasan, may malaki ang tyansa ng tagumpay kung grupo kaya ang pagapasyahan ng OWWA board ay i-encourage ang group livelihood program lalo na sa panahon ng pandemya, baka mas matibay ang negosyo kung grupo po sila,” the OWWA chief said.
The agency has yet to release the guidelines on how OFWs can avail the group livelihood assistance program.
OWWA also said that with the passage of the Bayanihan to Recover as One act, there will be a big possibility for the agency to give their one-time cash aid under the Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong (AKAP) program to the beneficiaries who have yet to receive Php10,000 from the government.
Records from the labor department show that over 300,000 OFWs have been displaced by the coronavirus pandemic.
