Registered overseas Filipino worker organizations may apply for up to P1 million in one-time livelihood funding under the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration’s Tulong PUSO program, a regional official confirmed this month.
OWWA MIMAROPA Regional Director Gerald Tan said the grant ceiling is tied to organizational size, with groups of at least 25 members eligible for the maximum amount. “Depending on the size of the organization, if you have 25 members or more, you may request and be granted up to P1 million in livelihood funding,” he said during a May 13 episode of Kapihan sa PIA Marinduque.
Formally called Tulong Pangkabuhayan sa Pag-unlad ng Samahang OFWs, the program supports startup ventures or business expansion projects through a single disbursement to qualified OFW groups. Tan stressed that approval carries accountability expectations for recipients.
“We expect that once your livelihood proposals are approved, you will be given the responsibility to properly manage and sustain the livelihood project,” he said.
In Marinduque, three organizations have already drawn from the program. OWWA Marinduque Provincial Head Venus Narvaez said Arukah House of Healing received the full P1 million, while two others — a feed retailer in Barangay Bunganay in Boac and a general merchandise business in Santa Cruz — were each granted P500,000.
The program is part of OWWA’s broader response to economic pressures facing OFW families, particularly those displaced by tensions in the Middle East. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. met with returning OFWs in March to personally lead the distribution of financial, medical, and psychosocial support, and has pledged continued government assistance under the spirit of “bayanihan.”
The Philippine Information Agency reported the Marinduque forum as part of ongoing OWWA outreach on available livelihood programs for OFW communities.
