The Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Dubai revealed that they have received over 79,800 applications from OFWs from Dubai and the Northern Emirates for the Department of Labor and Employment’s Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong (DOLE-AKAP) program that provides a one-time financial aid of Php10,000 (Dhs 730)
POLO Dubai’s Labor Attache Atty. Felicitas Bay stated that they have evaluated 26,752 applications. Out of this number, 9,691 applications have been approved, and 6,924 have already been paid out as of June 2.
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Labor Attache Bay furthered that POLO Dubai currently has a maximum allocation of 17,000 OFWs who can receive the financial aid from the government and clarified that the Php2.5 billion total allocation is intended not just for the UAE, but for OFWs worldwide.
“We have to consider that everything would all depend on the budget kasi yung iba, sinasabihan kami na ‘paasa’ but that’s why wwe 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,” explained Labor Attache Bay during the Kumustahang Namamahay online discussion headed by spearheaded by Kalayaan 2020 Chair Jason Bucton.
The POLO Dubai Labor Attache then furthered that they have been releasing funds through two channels: Remittance centres as well as through scheduled appointments at the POLO-Dubai office.
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“Dalawa ang payout (centres) natin. Sa POLO-Dubai dahil nag-ease na tayo ng restrictions but of course we still observe social distancing – alam yan ng mga nagpupunta sa POLO at meron din tayong mga remittance centers,” said Bay.
Labor Attache Bay assured the public that the POLO-Dubai team has been working nonstop to process all applications from OFWs in Dubai and the Northern Emirates: “Yung ating mga evaluators, hindi sila 8 to 5 office work, dire-diretso yung pag-ta-trabaho nating mga evaluators.”
