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P7.5B needed to cover costs for arriving OFWs’ quarantine

August 14, 2021 Lee Ann P. Ducusin 350 views

THE Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) is requesting for fresh funding from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to augment its funds for quarantine accommodation of repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFW).

OWWA administrator Hans Leo Cacdac said Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III has already requested the DBM for an additional budget of P7.5 billion and they are now working on completing several paperwork and requirements for the fresh funding request.

Cacdac explained that additional funding is needed since the remaining P5.2 billion supplemental budget for repatriated OFWs’ quarantine accommodation is only good until mid-September.

He added that the cost of quarantine accommodation has jacked up since repatriated OFWs are required to be quarantined for 14 days, but OWWA’s budget is only good for three days’ worth of quarantine.

“The P7.5 billion, that’s for food, transport, and hotel quarantine accommodation cost. Assuming we have 2,000 arrivals per day until the end of the year, the projected cost from Sept. 16 to Dec. 31, 2021 is P7.5 billion,” the OWWA chief said.

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