{"id":111992,"date":"2017-08-15T02:22:44","date_gmt":"2017-08-15T06:22:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=111992"},"modified":"2017-08-15T07:46:52","modified_gmt":"2017-08-15T11:46:52","slug":"atn-funding-for-ofws-jumps-to-p1-2b-in-2018-says-recto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/08\/15\/atn-funding-for-ofws-jumps-to-p1-2b-in-2018-says-recto\/","title":{"rendered":"ATN funding for OFWs jumps to P1.2B in 2018\u2014Recto"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_102566\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-102566\" style=\"width: 497px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Ralph-Recto.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-102566\" src=\"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Ralph-Recto.jpg\" alt=\"Amid plans of the Duterte administration to utilize the USD 500-million loan being offered by Chinese government to modernize the Philippine military, a senator on Tuesday urged the government to first consider tapping local industries to create more jobs. (PNA photo)\" width=\"497\" height=\"279\" srcset=\"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Ralph-Recto.jpg 497w, https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Ralph-Recto-300x168.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 497px) 100vw, 497px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-102566\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Recto has been campaigning for it to rise to at least P1 billion, which is attainable now with the proposed 2018 national budget &#8211; in which DFA proposed P19.5 billion. \u00a0(PNA photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Assistance to Nationals (ATN) fund of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will increase by 140% to P1 billion, together with the said department\u2019s Legal Assistance Fund (LAF) doubling to P200 million in 2018, Ralph Recto, Senate President Pro-Tempore said in a statement today, August 15.<\/p>\n<p>The ATN and LAF funds are for assisting Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in times of distress like repatriation, shipment of remains, hospitalizations, temporary accommodation, food and basic supplies and other similar expenses. Recto has been campaigning for it to rise to at least P1 billion, which is attainable now with the proposed 2018 national budget \u2013 in which DFA proposed P19.5 billion.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is a big jump. The challenge now is how to increase it yearly. It should not be static again. \u2018<em>Yung<\/em> (The) P1 billion, <em>kulang pa rin<\/em> (is still insufficient),\u201d Recto said.<\/p>\n<p>However, the President Pro-Tempore is calling for a \u201csingular budget tally\u201d to clearly identify and distinguish all fund sources of OFW assistance, and to know if it is sufficient.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>Sa ngayon kasi <\/em>dispersed <em>ang mga \u2018yan. Mayroon sa<\/em> DFA, <em>mayroon sa<\/em> DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment), <em>mayroon sa<\/em> OWWA (Overseas Workers Welfare Administration), <em>pati nga sa<\/em> DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) (As of now the fund is dispersed. There is one for DFA, one for DOLE, for OWWA, even for DSWD), <em>doon sa<\/em> (and for) reception and processing of repatriated Filipinos, like from Malaysia, <em>ay mayroon din pondo<\/em>,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>On August 14, Recto was seeking an allocation for a \u2018contingency fund\u2019 for distressed OFWs, after the tensions rising between North Korea and United States of America. He mentioned that the ATN fund of P400 million on 2017 was not enough.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere should be provisions for safe havens and secure escape routes. Our foreign posts must be given the capacity to make the arrangements. It should not be limited to plans and advisories,\u201d Recto said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Assistance to Nationals (ATN) fund of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will increase by 140% to P1 billion, &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":102566,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[21220,204,21221,971,3886],"class_list":["post-111992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","tag-atn","tag-dfa","tag-laf","tag-ofw","tag-ralph-recto","mauthors-bea-kirstein-t-manalaysay","mauthors-philippine-canadian-inquirer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111992\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}