OWWA SUSPENDS OFWs PRE-DEPARTURE LOAN PROGRAM
MANILA, MAY 5, 2008 (STAR) Bad news for departing overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).Acting Labor Secretary Marianito Roque yesterday reported that the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) would no longer give loans to departing OFWs.
Roque, who also serves as concurrent OWWA chief, said he was prompted to suspend the pre-departure loan program due to massive financial losses.
“I decided to suspend the program because most of the OFWs who availed of the program were not paying, so we suffered losses amounting to P70 million,” Roque disclosed.
According to Roque, OWWA allocated P100 million for the pre-departure loan program and have so far released a total of P70 million.
However, only 30 percent of the OFWs who secured loans paid OWWA.
“Only 30 percent paid their loans, so how can we survive?” Roque said.
He clarified that OWWA tried to collect from co-makers of the principal borrowers, but instead of getting payment, many OFWs said they would no longer pay their P40,000 loans.
“Since they were paying $25 membership fee per employment contract, the OFWs said the OWWA fund is their money so they don’t have to pay their loans,” Roque said.
He also noted that low payment rate is a common problem for OWWA.
On the average, about 2,000 to 3,000 OFWs leave the country daily to work overseas, which means OWWA collects some $75,000 or over P3 million membership fee daily.
While the law mandates the government to allocate pre-departure funding for OFWs, Roque said, low payment rate is sufficient basis to discontinue the program.
At the moment, OWWA is still in the process of going after borrowers to recover P70-million investments.
Despite the financial losses, Roque stressed that OWWA’s funds remain stable.
“The current total asset of OWWA stands at P10.2 billion, with P8.2 billion under investments and the rest for welfare assistance programs,” he said. – Mayen Jaymalin
Reported by: Sol Jose Vanzi
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