Only OWWA members can get reintegration assistance

ONLY overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who are and were members of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) are qualified to apply for enterprise loan under the P2-billion OFW-Reintegration Program (OFW-RP), a labor official clarified on Monday.

National Reintegration Center for OFWs (NRCO) Director Vivian Tornea made the clarification on queries that the agency received from non-OWWA members, who expressed interest in seeking business loans under the program.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz explained that OFWs who have contributed $25 to OWWA upon processing of their employment contract at the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and Filipino migrant workers who voluntarily registered and paid the OWWA membership contribution at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) at their job sites overseas are those entitled to benefits and services of the overseas workers agency.

Those benefits include the OFW-RP, which is jointly being implemented by the Department of Labor and Employment, OWWA, NRCO, Land Bank of the Philippines, and the Development Bank of the Philippines.

The program aims to help OFWs prepare for alternative employment or business upon their return to the country.

It provides returning OFWs with counseling on saving and financial management to help them manage and sustain their overseas earnings; skills training, re-tooling and upgrading to promote their employability and competitiveness; employment facilitation services to help them in their job search, locally or overseas; and livelihood and enterprise development assistance for OFWs who want to set up business. –ROMMEL C. LONTAYAO REPORTER, Manila Times