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| Labatt de la Torre says aid is given to terminated workers who undetake to go home for good |
Filipino migrant workers who have lost their jobs prematurely
due to termination, maltreatment and other employer violations of their
contracts can apply for a Php20,000 livelihood aid from the Overseas Workers
Welfare Administration on their return home.
This little-known benefit was disclosed recently at Filipino
community gatherings by new welfare attaché Marivic Clarin, and confirmed in an
interview on Nov 22 by Labor Attache Jalilo dela Torre.
According to Labatt dela Torre, terminated workers who go
home for good are endorsed to OWWA offices in the workers’ regions.
“Lahat ng terminated na umuuwi, binibigyan namin ng
endorsement sa regional offices ng OWWA” so they can receive the livelihood
aid, Labatt Dela Torre said.
But it appears there has not been a lot of takers in the
eight years that the “Balik-Pinas, Balik-Hanapbuhay” program has been in
existence.
Statistics from the Department of Labor and Employment show
that only 260 OFWs have received the benefit as of the end of the third quarter
this year.
This may be because OWWA is said to be meticulous in
evaluating the returning worker’s proposed project so that the financial aid
does not go to waste.
“Kasi, yung iba, ipinambabayad lang sa utang,” Clarin said.
She said the intent of the program is to help distressed
OFWs, primarily wards of government shelters who have cases against their
employers, those who are terminated for medical reasons, or are laid off due to
their employers’ financial difficulties.
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| Clarin with livelihood program provider Ofelia Baquirin |
The training is said to be provided by OWWA, other government agencies, as well as non-government organizations and OFW cooperatives or groups in the regions.
Evaluation and supervision of the project is conducted to
ensure its success, especially now that the aid amount is bigger than before,
Clarin said.
The livelihood assistance was put in place during the tenure
of Former President Benigno Aquino III, but the aid given at the time was in
the form of starter kits worth Php10,000.
Clarin said that since 2016, the livelihood grant had been
doubled to PhP20,000.
But she admitted that the success rate among aid recipients
has been low “because not everyone is cut out for business”.
One recipient, an illegally terminated worker from Naga City
Another former Hong Kong-based OFW who went to Russia only to discover it was a job scam, said
she tried applying for the livelihood assistance but balked when she was told
she would have to stay in the Philippines
In Nueva Vizcaya province, where former OFWs have formed a
cooperative and undertaken livelihood projects, there were 85 recipients of the
OWWA assistance as of the end of the third quarter this year, said its
president Cristina Gauuan Reyes.
She said in her barangay, there are 20 recipients whose
projects, namely piggery, sari-sari store and fish vending, are being
coordinated by the cooperative.
She said the “Balik-Pinas, Balik-Hanapbuhay” beneficiaries
in the 15 municipalities of Nueva Vizcaya received PhP20,000 each, which they
put into their chosen businesses. They received help from the provincial
government in the form training.
The reintegration program was introduced to help former OFWs
rejoin Philippine society by offering them livelihood opportunities if they
decide to stay home for good.
(OFWs who undergo livelihood training are in the best position to come up with a sound project proposal, like these members of Diwa't Kabayan Benlife Society: https://www.facebook.com/leo.deocadiz/videos/1959148447466791/)
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