Cash assistance for displaced OFWs raised

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is offering returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) cash assistance and loans with low interest, an official said yesterday.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello said the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) has approved a resolution increasing the cash assistance for displaced OFWs from P10,000 to P20,000.

“We are also requesting OWWA to reduce the interest for an OFW loan from eight percent to six percent and exclude the collateral requirement,” Bello said.

He said the Landbank of the Philippines grants loan assistance of P50,000 to P300,000 for OFWs who can provide collaterals such as land titles and other assets with a regular interest rate of eight percent.

Bello said the DOLE and OWWA are discussing with Landbank the terms and conditions in granting loan assistance to OFWs.

He said they were drafting the guidelines in the grant of benefits and loans to repatriated OFWs.

Thousands of displaced OFWs have returned home from Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries.