OFWs affected by typhoon Mangkhut may get financial aid

By Vir B. Lumicao

Workers stranded at airports in the wake of severe typhoon Mangkhut have started filing their claims for the Php5,000 assistance offered by the Consulate, according to an officer of the assistance to nationals section.

Consul Paulo Saret, ATN head, told The SUN that the assistance is meant to help offset the extra cost that the workers incurred when they were left stranded by the suspension or delay of flights over the five-day period of Mangkhut’s onslaught.

Consul Paulo Saret

Saret said the Consulate has already received guidelines from the Department of Foreign Affairs on the mechanics of the workers’ assistance payout.

“Basta mag-present lang sila ng ticket, boarding pass at saka yung (arrival or departure) stamp. Ma-establish lang na na-delay sila dahil sa typhoon noong four or five days na iyon, Sept 14 to 18,”Saret said.

He said the cash assistance would be paid out in Hong Kong if the workers applied here, but the funds would still come from Manila.

Saret likened typhoon assistance to the financial aid ATN also offered for workers stranded or delayed by the belly-landing of a Xiamen Airlines plane at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in August.

He said all those who filed for claims were put in a list, along with the total amount due them, but the approval from the DFA has not yet come through, so no money was yet forthcoming.

The cash aid will reportedly come from the PhP1 billion ATN fund, from which Philippine diplomatic posts abroad draw money to help distressed OFWs and other Filipinos abroad.