COVID-19 relief: Displaced Filipinos to receive Dh730 cash aid upon return to the Philippines from the UAE

Dubai: Filipinos who lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic and are planning of going back home may receive an automatic one-time cash assistance of Dh730 (10,000 Philippine pesos) upon arrival at the Manila airport, the minister of the Philippine Department of Labour and Employment (DOLE) has announced.

“DOLE is planning to release the cash aid to repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) as soon as they arrive at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA),” said DOLE minister Silvestre Bello III during a virtual forum in Manila on Wednesday. Currently, displaced Filipinos have to apply for assistance through DOLE’s AKAP (Abot Kamay Ang Pagtulong) financial assistance programme.

“This will ease the burden of the OFWs displaced by the pandemic. We know them as OFWs. We know they were displaced because of COVID-19 and therefore they deserve the financial assistance,” he added.

Bello, meanwhile, noted DOLE has already disbursed 3.5 billion pesos (Dh260 million) worth of cash assistance to almost 350,000 beneficiaries, including OFWs and those working locally.