Pasil, Kalinga – Active Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) and returnees who are members of Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) are assured of livelihood and scholarship grant.
The aid is under OWWA’s Tulong Pangkabuhayan sa Pag-unlad ng Samahang OFWs (Tulong PUSO) which provides onetime grant assistance in the form of raw materials, equipment, tools, and other support services to support the formation, enhancement, or restoration of livelihood projects and undertakings of OFW organizations.
Pasil availed of the grant in coordination with Advocates and Keepers Organization of OFWS (AKO-OFW ) Inc. through ‘Chagup Chi Kalinga’ Program led by Cordillera AKO-OFW Chairman Alonzo Saclag Jr. and the local government of Pasil under the leadership of Mayor Alfredo Malannag Jr.
In an interview with Saclag this September 27, 2021, he disclosed that all OWWA members, not just in Pasil but in the entire province, are entitled to the grant since it is their privilege for sacrificing and working abroad.
“Actually, nagpa-assist ak lang ti Pasil ta manu lang met ti staff ti Chagup Chi Kalinga. Han mi kaya ta intero nga Kalinga, imbag a ta nag-wen piman ti Office ni Mayor. Agpasalamatak ti LGU Pasil kasi they are helping us nga mangi-connect kadagituy OFWs” Saclag stated.
How to avail of the grant
Active and OFW returnees, he said, only need to submit their name and address to the Municipal Government Unit of Pasil Facebook page and the Office of Mayor Malannag shall consolidate and group the applicants.
“Nu sino ti nag-pass, i-rehistro nga dagus idiay Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for monitoring purposes, and then we will forward the papers sa national,” the Regional AKO-OFW Chairman explained.
The livelihood assistance will soon be given in cash for OFW returnees to utilize based on what is applicable in their own places.
The scholarship grant, on the other hand, is for the children of currently active OFWs who are at the college level. The assistance will be directed to the school as payment for their tuition.
According to Saclag, the amount of the assistance that will be given will depend on the number of recipients in a group, explaining “pag 51 beneficiaries in a group, 1 million will be given for the livelihood, pero ag-register da pay ti DOLE ta imon-monitor mi suda ta nu adda ti next nga maited manen at least registered da.”
‘Chagup Chi Kalinga’ is a non-profit organization founded in 2013 “to uplift and promote the virtue of unity, especially in times of calamities.”
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