Press Release
August 8, 2019

Credit assistance program to help new OFWs, families - Revilla

A bill to provide credit assistance program to help newly-hired Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) financially provide for their families during the first three months of their employment has been filed in the senate.

Senate Bill No. 801, filed by Sen. Bong Revilla mandates that prospective OFWs having a valid contract certified by the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA), may avail of a P 50,000 loan from Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) payable in 12 months or more but not exceeding 24 months at a preferred interest rate of 6 percent per annum.

The veteran senator believes that this loan will help defray the living expenses of OFWs and their families during the first few months of their employment as well as other expenses incurred during pre-employment.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) revealed that there are 2.3 million overseas Filipinos who sent a total of P 235.9 billion in remittances. These remittances were divided into three types: cash sent home (P 169.4 billion), cash brought home (P 55.2 billion), and remittance in kind (P 11.2 billion).

PSA also stated that 96.2 percent of OFWs have existing work contracts during the period April to September 2018, while 3.8 percent worked overseas without contract.

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