Aquino sets up P1-billion loan program for returning OFWs

To help create business and employment opportunities for returning Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), the Aquino administration will allot P1 billion to fund a loan assistance program for them. President Benigno Aquino III ordered the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to allocate a P1-billion “reintegration fund" from which OFWs may borrow to finance the start up of their own businesses. “Gagamitin po natin ang pondong ito bilang isang epektibong loan program na may magaan na interes (We will use this fund as an effective loan program with a low interest rate)," Aquino said in a speech at the 2010 Model OFW Family of the Year Awards at Hotel Sofitel in Manila.

The Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines will implement the program and hold financial literacy and money management seminars for returning OFWs, Aquino said. Even as he praised the contribution of OFWs to the country's growth — January-September OFW remittances totaled $13.78 billion — Aquino said the priority of his administration is to create job opportunities in the Philippines so that Filipinos need not leave the country to earn decent wages. “Una pa rin po sa ating listahan ang paglikha ng disenteng trabaho at oportunidad dito sa sarili nating bayan (Still on top of our list is the creation of decent jobs and opportunities here in our own country)," said the president. The P1-billion reintegration fund, to be sourced from OWWA’s capital fund, will be utilized starting next year, OWWA Administrator Carmelita Dimzon said. P500,000 maximum loan for OFW groups She said the OWWA board of trustees will meet “immediately" to brainstorm the program’s mechanics, the outcome of which will determine how many families may benefit from it. For now, OFWs can borrow as much as P500,000 but that amount is available only to OFW groups or cooperatives, she said. Dimzon said the ceiling for individual loans may increase in response to an OFW’s request for higher amounts. In some cases, an individual venturing into micro-entrepreneurship may borrow up to P15,000, the administrator said. “It’s really an incentive for them to stay," she told reporters at the same event. However, the OFW umbrella group Migrante International criticized the loan program as “mere tokenism and pure lip service." In a statement, Migrante chairperson Garry Martinez urged President Aquino to investigate OWWA funds which have "perennially been placed under fire for numerous allegations of misuse and corruption." He said OWWA has reportedly collected an estimated P12 billion this year from the mandatory $25-contribution from members, but OFWs have complained that the money has not been properly used in providing much-needed services for them. The group also asked Aquino to oppose the 50-percent budget cuts in the assistance fund for Filipinos abroad in the proposed Department of Foreign Affairs budget for next year. Model OFWs The Model OFW Family of the Year Awards is an annual event organized by OWWA to honor outstanding OFW families that have displayed “admirable efforts and determination to maintain their strong family ties despite parental distance, success in overseas work" and “for wisely managing and investing their incomes, and their productive contribution to their communities." The national awardees for this year were engineer Ermie Lagman Garon and her family from Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac, Aquino's hometown, for the land-based category; and electrician Victor Dela Cruz of Puerto Princesa City, Palawan for the sea-based category. More than 30 OFW families from various regions in the Philippines were also honored in Monday’s event. In an interview, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said an “increasing trend" in the deployment of more OFWs is expected next year. “It’s still the demand and the long history of our deployment in the different countries and then our migration management system," the labor chief said. She added that much of the demand comes from Middle Eastern countries seeking skilled and professional workers. — VS/OMG/YA, GMANews.TV