COTABATO CITY – The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (Owwa) in Region 12 provided financial assistance to 59 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) through its Cash Relief (CARE) Program for member-OFWs offered by the Kuwaiti government.
Marlyn Jamero, Owwa 12 administrator, said the beneficiaries received PHP5,000 each in a simple ceremony held Thursday at the Owwa regional office in Koronadal City.
Jamero said the Cash Relief (CARE) program is a one-time cash relief assistance to Owwa members who availed the amnesty program offered by the Kuwaiti government starting on January 29 until a deadline is set by Kuwait.
The program intends to help the OFW-Amnesty beneficiaries defray their incidental expenses upon their return to their families considering the difficulty they experienced prior to the Amnesty Program.
Target beneficiaries of the program are Owwa members, active or non-active, with at least one recorded contribution. They were to file application for the cash relief within 90 days after their arrival in the Philippines.
Qualified applicants may claim the cash relief assistance at any Regional Welfare Office nearest them provided their names can be found in the official master list issued by the Philippine Embassy or Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO).
Jamero advised OFWs from Kuwait to get in touch with the regional, provincial and city Owwa offices for additional details and necessary documentary requirements.
The release of funds for 59 OFWs from Kuwait came after OWW-12 extended PHP20, 000 cash assistance to 410 distressed and displaced OFWs from the Soccsksargen Region under the “Balik Pinas, Balik Hanapbuhay Program (BPBH)” of Owwa for the period January 1 to March 19, 2018.
Jamero said the BPBH program is a start-up for returning “modern heroes” to become the persons-in-charge of their chosen enterprises.
She added that it is one of the reintegration programs of Owwa offered to OFWs to equip them with entrepreneurial skills. An OFW BPBH-recipient may utilize their acquired skills for their chosen enterprises related to food and drinks, online business, health and wellness, arts and crafts, green business and many others, Jamero said.
The particular program is a package consisting of cash assistance, related trainings on financial literacy and entrepreneurship and other services that will enable the target beneficiaries to promptly start their livelihood undertakings.
Jamero said her office is closely monitoring how the beneficiaries utilize their livelihood assistance funds to ensure it will not go to waste. (PNA)
