OWWA’s funds for OFWs’ quarantine facilities may run out by mid-May—Palace

(FILE) 61 OFWs sent home from the Fort Magsaysay quarantine facility. BCDA PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration  (OWWA) may run out of funds by mid-May for the expenses of returning overseas Filipino workers (OFW) quarantine facilities, Malacañang said Thursday.

As of April 16, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said OWWA only has a P1.4 billion budget left for OFWs quarantine facilities, food, and transportation.

“Ang sabi po ng OWWA, inaasahan nila na mauubos ito by mid-May,” Roque said in an online briefing.

(OWWA said they expect this to be exhausted by mid-May.)

Roque said this was the reason behind the plea of Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Silvestre Bello III to bring back the old protocol of testing returning Filipinos for COVID-19 on arrival at the airport, instead of the current policy of testing them on the fifth day, to cut down costs.

However, President Rodrigo Duterte said he is not comfortable relaxing the protocols of returning Filipinos.

“Ang problema talaga po noong pinatagal natin yung quarantine ng ating mga OFW, nadagdagan yung gastos ng OWWA. Dati, one to three days lang po ang bayad nila sa hotel na tig-P3,000 a day. Ngayon po, nagiging seven to nine days,” Roque explained.

(The problem when we prolonged the quarantine of our OFWs, OWWA’s expenses became bigger. Before, they only paid for one to three days’ stay in hotels worth P3,000 per day. Now, they shoulder the expenses for seven to nine days.)

Earlier, DOLE said OWWA was seeking an additional P9.8 billion budget for the accommodation expenses of OFWs.

Roque said Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado has vowed to find funds for the request of more funds.

/MUF