Lawmakers assure budget resources for OFW welfare The House of Representatives said on Friday that it would work to guarantee that there will be provisions in the national budget for the purpose of assisting overseas Filipino workers in distress, both documented and undocumented. Davao Representative Isidro Ungab, chairman of the Appropriations Committee, said that the proposed national budget for 2015 will incorporate in the special provision of the budget of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) a statement reiterating the legal assistance fund that will cover all Filipino workers abroad. So far, the amendments adopted by the committee include a special provision in the DFA budget expanding the coverage of legal assistance funds to include all migrant workers in distress whether documented or undocumented, he said when asked for an update on the budget. Ungab heads the small committee tasked to review which of the amendments submitted by House members would be incorporated in the final version. The House is expected to approve the P2.606 trillion proposed national budget for 2016 when it returns to session on October 20. Ungab said that an amount of P30 million has been appropriated in the proposed budget, although Republic Act 10022 or the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act mandates that there should be a P100-million fund for this. Ungab said that unspent amounts in the 2014 budget would be used to augment the legal assistance fund. For 2015, DFA will be getting P12.86 billion, higher than its P12.06 billion apprpriation for the current year.
Posted on: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 06:18:11 +0000
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