Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Thursday said the government will look for funds to shoulder the expenses of COVID-19 test and quarantine facility of returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
“What Budget Secretary [Wendel] Avisado said was we will look for funds because this is needed,” Roque said.
Roque added that Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) needs P9.8 billion additional funds to continue shouldering the cost of RT-PCR test, food and accommodation of OFWs.
“As of 16 April, OWWA’s budget for quarantine hotel facilities, transportation, food and meal, and cremation on funeral services stood at 1.4 billion,” Roque bared.
OWWA chief Hans Leo Cacdac raised the alarm as early as March that the agency’s budget would be depleted by April or May this year.
To reduce expenses, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III proposed to shorten the quarantine period on returning OFWs.
However, President Rodrigo Duterte stressed that quarantine protocols for OFWs cannot be compromised due to the emergence of more transmissible variants of COVID-19.
