Land Bank distributes P24.7M to OFWs displaced by pandemic
The Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) has already released P24.7 million in cash aid to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) displaced by the COVID-19 pandemic .
In a statement on Thursday (May 7), the state-run lender said that as of last Tuesday (May 5), 2,468 OFWs received cash assistance via LBP, which was the conduit for distribution of the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) cash aid program called Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong sa OFW.
The LBP statement said at least 135,720 displaced OFWs, including seafarers, would get a one-time cash aid of $200 or its equivalent in currency in countries where the OFWs are.
The beneficiaries are at least 85,720 OFWs who are still abroad and 50,000 who had been brought back to the Philippines, LBP added.
It said repatriated OFWs qualified to receive the cash aid in the National Capital Region could claim their cash at Land Bank branches.
The 85,720 OFWs still abroad would get their cash aid from labor offices where the funds would be sent by LBP through telegraphic transfer.
The statement said LBP is working closely with the DOLE to help OFWs “weather work disruptions and circumstances brought about the COVID-19 crisis.”
“This means immediately delivering financial support to our OFWs, wherever they are in the world,” said LBP president and CEO Cecilia C. Borromeo in the statement.
LBP said the cash aid program for OFWs supplemented the DOLE’s cash aid program for workers in the Philippines displaced by pandemic lockdowns.
The bank said at least P91.11 million in cash had been disbursed by the LBP to 18,222 workers in NCR as of May 5.
Edited by TSB
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