|
By Ruben Jeffrey A. Asuncion, Contributor
TWO government agencies expected to help
overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) received increases in funding for
this year, budget records showed.
The 2008 General Appropriations Act bared that
assistance projects for OFWs by the Department of Labor and
Employment (DOLE) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) got
the increments these agencies proposed in last year’s budget
hearings.
The Labor department got a P33.3-million
increase in allocated funds for its “Social Protection Program,”
where the budget item “Workers Protection and Welfare Service to
overseas Filipino workers” falls under.
The program was given P383.3 million this year,
up nearly 10 percent from its P350-million budget last year.
In addition, the Labor department’s
“Emergency Repatriation Program,” an item absent from its budget
last year, was given P50 million.
Another P50 million was allocated for the
one-year-old National Reintegration Center for OFWs.
Another attached agency, the Philippine Overseas
Employment Administration (POEA) also received increases in its
budget. The POEA’s “Workers Welfare Assistance and Overseas
Placement Services” line item received P39.5 million, nearly 2
percent higher than its P38.8-million allocation last year.
A similar increase has also been made in the
POEA’s line item “Adjudication Services” with P28.5 million
for this year, compared with P27.6 million for last year.
While Manila-centric units got majority of the
labor department’s total P6.3-billion pie, DOLE’s offices in the
regions got a measly share for “workers’ amelioration and
welfare services.”
The regions, where most prospective and former
OFWs and OFW families live, saw their budgets for these services
reduced by nearly P3 million to P36.6 million from the P38.2-million
budget allocation last year.
In contrast, the Labor department’s allocation
for personal services (PS) continued to see year-on-year increases
as against, for one, maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE).
For the item “Workers Protection and Welfare
Service to Overseas Filipino Workers,” for example, around P207.6
million for PS was allocated for this year.
This amount is nearly double than the P168.2
million allotted for MOOE for this year.
Last year, the program received P202.7 million
for PS, while its MOOE was allocated only P145.3 million.
Overall, the Labor department’s budget this
year increased by 28.24 percent to P6.271 billion from nearly P5
billion in 2007. POEA’s budget, part of DOLE’s total budget,
also increased to P238.9 million this year, from P231.6 million in
2007.
The POEA’s budget is merely 20 percent of
OWWA’s total collection from OFWs. A government-owned
and-controlled corporation, OWWA is excluded from the annual GAA and
relies mainly not on taxes, but on the membership fees being paid by
departing OFWs.
Some 3,000 OFWs leave every day, each paying $25
to contribute to the OWWA Fund.
Their own $25 contributions provide for any
welfare and economic services to OFWs.
In 2006, a Commission on Audit report disclosed
that OWWA spent some P910.715 million, while earning P2.062 billion.
Another agency tasked with the welfare of
overseas Filipinos is the Department of Foreign Affairs that also
received more funds.
The DFA’s provision on the “Implementation
of RA 8042” was increased by 170 percent to P236.7 million this
year from only P87.7 million in 2007.
Being funded under this category are the Legal
Assistance Fund for OFWs’ litigation cases and the
Assistance-to-Nationals Fund. The latter is DFA’s fund to
repatriate OFWs.
The DFA’s over-all 2008 budget is at P10.2
billion, up by P2.8 billion from the allocated 2007 budget of P7.4
billion.
-- OFW Journalism Consortium
|
