Over 1M pandemic-hit OFWs assisted by OWWA

The OWWA’s Covid-19-related assistance include food, quarantine accommodation, and transportation. (File Photo: OWWA Overseas Workers Welfare Administration/Facebook)

MANILA – Over 1 million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) displaced by the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) have been assisted by the government since the start of the pandemic two years ago, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) reported Friday.

“From May 2020 to July 6, 2022, 1,030,344 returned OFWs have been given assistance by OWWA,” OWWA chief Hans Leo Cacdac said in a Facebook post.

The OWWA’s Covid-19-related assistance include food, quarantine accommodation, and transportation.

During the height of the pandemic, OFWs after they have returned to the country are assisted quarantine hotels, where they will stay until they are negative for Covid-19.

Aside from food, they are given medicines and provide basic commodities.

After being cleared from the virus, the distressed OFWs will be transported back to their home provinces via air, sea and land.

The affected Filipinos are also provided with cash assistance amounting to PHP10,000 (US$200) under the Abot-Kamay ang Pagtulong (AKAP) of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).