DOLE: 10,000 OFWs keen on availing govt loans

Some 10,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are seeking to avail of a loan under the P2 billion national reintegration program of the Philippine government.

In a statement on Wednesday, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said more than 10,000 OFWs have enlisted under the program that would help them start their own businesses.

Baldoz explained that the P2-B National Reintegration Loan Fund is intended for repatriated OFWs who can avail of loans ranging from P300,000 to P2,000,000.

“Administrator Carmelita Dimzon of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration had reported that 10,172 OFWs have registered under the reintegration program,” Baldoz said.

“Of this number, 4,515 have been trained on entrepreneurship development, 1,606 of whom were trained by the National Reintegration Center for OFWs in cooperation with the Department of Trade and Industry and the Philippine Trade Training Center,” she added.

She said the loans are easy to access and require no collateral.

The loan interest is only 7.5 percent per annum while the repayment period is up to seven years, she added.

Baldoz said returning OFWs can avail of the program by going to the nearest OWWA regional welfare office.

The DOLE has already endorsed 1,305 loan applications to the Land Bank of the Philippines and another nine to the Development Bank of the Philippines.

Some of the businesses funded under the reintegration program are hog fattening, duck egg production, vegetable growing, internet café, Nuat Thai food and body massage; and dental laboratory. – VVP, GMA News