The Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Dubai (POLO Dubai) has revealed that the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has provided a total allotment for 17,000 Filipinos in Dubai and the Northern Emirates to receive the one-time financial aid from its DOLE-Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong (DOLE-AKAP) program.
This translates to a total of Php170,000,000 as each of the 17,000 OFW recipients of the program will be getting Php10,000 (Dhs 730). As of June 2, POLO Dubai had already paid out to 6,924 OFWs equivalent to Php69,240,000. This means that a total of Php100,760,000 is left for POLO Dubai to provide for 10,076 for the entire allotment.
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Labor Attache Atty. Felicitas Bay stated that the money that they release for OFWs in Dubai and the Northern Emirates all depends on the budgetary allocation as deemed by DOLE in the Philippines.
“We have to consider that everything would all depend on the budget kasi yung iba, sinasabihan kami na ‘paasa’ but that’s why we are telling that we are only good for the 17,000 Filipino workers until such time that we can receive or meron tayong matanggap ulit na instruction na madadagdan. But at the moment, tayo ay nasa 17,000 Filipino workers allocation,” said Bay during the Kumustahang Namamahay online discussion headed by spearheaded by Kalayaan 2020 Chair Jason Bucton.
Bay clarified that POLO Dubai doesn’t have the total budget of Php2.5 billion, as what several other OFWs have initially thought, explaining that the total budget is meant for OFWs worldwide.
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“Nabibigla kami doon sa sinasabi na ‘Nasaan na yung Php 1.5 billion? POLO Dubai, ilabas niyo yung Php 1.5 billion!’ Wala po kaming ilalabas kasi wala naman pong pinadala sa amin na Php 1.5 billion. Wala ding pinadala sa amin na Php 1 billion. There are so many labor offices worldwide, I think there are 38 or 39 offices worldwide and some offices have their oversight jurisdiction. Alam po natin na maraming pangangailangan ang ating mga kababayan at alam natin ang sitwasyon. Ramdam na ramdam po namin ang sitwasyon. Subalit kailangan din po naming sumunod sa patakaran at proseso na ibinigay sa amin ng pamahalaan,” explained Bay.
She furthered that she along with her fellow officers at other POLOs around the world hope that the budget for DOLE-AKAP would increase further to enable them to provide aid for more OFWs in need.
“We should understand that the government is trying its best. That’s the reason nga di ba from Php1.5 billion, nagdagdag ng Php1 billion. I really do not know if there will be any additional, so we cannot say this is insufficient, we cannot say this is sufficient enough kasi hindi lang naman ako, lahat kaming POLOs we are saying sige sana madagdagan pa nang madagdagan,” said Bay.
