Agri agency offers loans to displaced OFWs

Returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) displaced by the conflict in the Middle East may avail themselves of loans from the Department of Agriculture (DA) to finance alternative means of livelihood.

In a statement to the press, DA said it was willing to provide emergency loan assistance at zero interest worth P25,000 each to returning OFWs from Iran and elsewhere in the Middle East.

“They may opt to avail themselves of a bigger amount under the recently approved DA-Agricultural Credit and Policy council Micro and Small Agribusiness Loan Program, where they can borrow from P300,000 up to P15 million at zero interest, payable in five years,” Agriculture Secretary William Dar said.

With rising tensions between the United States and Iran, the Philippine Embassy has mandated the evacuation of some 1,600 Filipinos in the conflict-ridden country, but this was eventually lifted by Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III after a few days.

The country’s three major domestic airlines have also committed to assist the government in bringing home Filipinos living in the Middle East by offering free flights.

The DA, for its part, has opened its doors to OFWs who would decide to stay in the country following the conflict. The loans offered could be used to invest in agro-fisheries ventures. INQ