MANILA - The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said Tuesday it proposed to the national government the grant of financial assistance to some 150,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

In an interview on ANC, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said beneficiaries, both here and abroad, would receive $200 or P10,000.

"As soon as we get the budgetary allotment, we can immediately remit cash assistance to our OFWs," he said.

"We have confidence that the President will approve that," he added.

More than a thousand Filipino seafarers from ships docked in the United States and Europe have been repatriated after being stranded in their respective workplaces due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than 500 OFWs have contracted the disease, latest data from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) showed.

• DOLE gets P5-billion budget boost for workers' cash aid

During the interview, Bello said DOLE was seeking a P5 billion supplemental budget to cushion the effects of the crisis on the workforce.

The national government's task force on COVID-19 on Tuesday approved DOLE's request, which will be used for the social amelioration program for formal sector workers such as OFWs and local workers with reduced or no income.

The specific DOLE programs that will benefit from the supplemental funding are the COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP), Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa ating Displaced/Disadvantaged Workers (TUPAD) Sanitation Project, and the ​Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong​ (AKAP) ​sa OFWs.

($1=P50.7620)

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