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MORE Philippine Workers Abroad (OFW) will benefit from the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong (AKAP) program.
This was after the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) awarded DOLE an additional amount of P1 billion for the only P10,000 monetary assistance program for OFW affected by the new coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
“I just received a notice from the Department of Budget and Management that you are giving additional funding [for AKAP]. It’s good that they take pity on us and gave us the additional P1 billion, ”Secretary of Labor and Employment Silvestre H. Bello III said Thursday during an online press conference.
The Budget Secretary, Wendel Avisado, confirmed to BusinessMirror in an SMS the increase in AKAP funding.
“This came from pooled savings,” Avisado said.
Bello admitted that additional funds will not be enough to accommodate all 411,000 people who have already applied for AKAP.
Of the applicants, 142,550 were considered qualified, while another 27,675 were denied.
DOLE had requested an additional budget of P2.5 billion from DBM for the implementation of AKAP.
This is in addition to the initial 1.5 billion pesos given by DBM for said program, which is expected to benefit 150,000 workers.
Applications in progress
With the release of the additional AKAP budget, Bello said they are still accepting applications for the program, despite saying in an interview on Wednesday that they have already halted activity.
DOLE Information and Publication Services also released a statement indicating that Bello has already issued a memorandum to the Philippine Foreign Labor Office (POLO) ordering them to suspend acceptance of AKAP applications.
A source familiar with the details of AKAP implementation said that only some of the POLOs had stopped accepting AKAP applications as they have not yet met the numerical quota for applicants.
Bello said they expect DBM to still grant them the additional P1.5 billion, which they requested for AKAP implementation.
“As long as we have the budget, we will continue to accept applications and those who qualify [will get] $ 200 in cash assistance if they are still abroad; and if they’re already here in the Philippines, they will [get] an equivalent of P10,000, ”said Bello.
