Around 50 returning Filipino workers displaced by the global economic slowdown from Western Visayas are set to receive their checks worth P50,000 each for their livelihood projects on June 12, 2009.
The distribution of the 50 checks worth P2.5 million under the Filipino Expatriates Livelihood Support Fund (FELSF) of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration 6 (OWWA 6)is part of the three-day celebration of the 111th Independence Day in the region which will be held at the Amigo Plaza Mall.
FELFS is a lending program of the OWWA that allows members displaced by the global crisis to avail of up to P50,000 loan without collateral for two years.
The fund is part of the P100-million credit facility created by Labor Secretary Marianito Roque under the Comprehensive Livelihood and Emergency Program (CLEEP) of President Gloria Macagapal Arroyo which was launched in January this year.
OWWA 6 Family Welfare Officer Rizza Mapa said 15 of these beneficiaries are from the province of Negros Occidental and the rest are from the different provinces of Panay Island.
The beneficiaries, said Mapa, will use the financial assistance to start their livelihood projects such as Sari-Sari store, Palay Trading, Bakery, Transportation Services and Hog Raising, among others.
She also disclosed that 112 displaced workers in the region have already received their financial assistance released in separate occasions earlier.
As of June 8, OWWA 6 had recorded a total of 251 displaced OFWs who have sought its Help Desk since December 2008.
Iloilo province had recorded the most number of displaced workers with 144, Negros Occidental with 71, Capiz with 17, Guimaras with 8 and Antique with 7.
is this the same government that keeps declaring there is no economic downturn here?