The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) has urged 22 distressed and displaced overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Antique who received a total of PHP1.3 million financial aid to use the money as they restart their lives in the province. OWWA Officer II Remon Albeza said in an interview Monday that the assistance released on Oct. 6 aimed to provide them with a starting capital. The recipients are among the 72 OFWs who came home to the province from Jan. 1 to Aug. 31, 2023. 'Most of the OFWs were females who were hired for household services in the Middle East but experienced maltreatment that they decided to come home,' he said. The assistance ranges from PHP5,000 to PHP20,000 depending on their OWWA membership and contributions. OWWA officer in charge regional director for Western Visayas Rizza Joy Moldes led the distribution with Darius Montaño from the Provincial Planning and Development Office, one of the speakers on the financial literacy training and psychosocial counseling before the release of assistance. Albeza said they will be monitored to ensure they use the funds properly as they restart their lives. 'We have help desks to assist the OFWs in Antique,' he said. The help desks are available at the provincial government and in San Jose de Buenavista, Hamtic and Anini-y towns, where the OFWs or their families can seek help for their relatives who are in distress while working abroad. OWWA-trained personnel are assigned to man the desks to be responsive to the concerns of OFWs. 'The help desks are there to assist and report to the OWWA in case of an OFW needing immediate repatriation,' he said.
Source: Philippines News Agency
