A dairy farming student set to leave for New Zealand next week is among the 58 overseas Filipino workers from Nueva Vizcaya who recently received welfare assistance totaling P1 million through a joint effort between the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and the provincial government.
Jerome Bad-e, 28, of Barangay Quezon in Solano, was given P120,000 in death and burial assistance following the death of his mother. He said the payout came at a critical time, as he had been struggling to claim the benefit before his scheduled departure to pursue dairy farming studies abroad.
“This help is very much appreciated, as I struggled to claim this benefit after my mother died. It is good that OWWA and other partner agencies respond quickly to my needs. This will help me to get a job overseas,” Bad-e said.
OWWA Regional Director Virsie Tamayao said the P1-million assistance package covers medical, livelihood, death, and burial benefits, distributed among OFW recipients drawn from various towns across the province.
On the local government side, Provincial Employment Service Division chief Dolly Rose Minas announced plans to establish a One-Stop Shop that would consolidate services from OWWA and the Department of Migrant Workers, with the aim of streamlining assistance delivery to distressed OFWs in the province.
Minas also called on OFWs in Nueva Vizcaya — including those who have been repatriated amid the ongoing tensions in the Middle East — to register with authorities. “Registration will help establish a database of OFWs in need, allowing authorities to provide timely and appropriate assistance,” she said.
