President Rodrigo Duterte considers the welfare of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) as one of his top priorities, according to Department of Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre Bello III.
In The Filipino Times’ live streaming on Facebook titled ‘Usapang OFW,’ Bello shared his private conversation with the president when he requested for additional funding for the AKAP program.
“Kako Mr. President ‘yong mga paborito mo kailangan pa ng allocation. Sabi niya ‘basta meron hindi ko ipagkakait.’ Kaya naman I am confident na pagdating ng panahon, maibibigay ito sa atin,” he said.
He also noted the time the President immediately provided an additional funding worth PHP1.5 billion for the program when the department realized that there are over 300,000 applications as compared to their initial estimate of 150,000.
“The president loves OFWs, so that time, he immediately added PHP1 billion to our budget. Kaya nagkaroon kami ng PHP2.5 billion,” he said.
Bello said that he remains hopeful that the president will heed to his request to enable DOLE to provide aid for more OFWs in need
“Huwag po tayong mag-alala dahil ang mga OFWs nasa puso po kayo ng Pangulo. Kayo ang isa sa kanyang main priorities. Mahal na mahal po ng Pangulo ang ating mga OFWs,” added Bello.
