PIMENTEL SAYS P500 MILLION STANDBY FUND FOR LEBANON EVACUATION MUST COME FROM OWWA

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Nene Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today expressed support for Malacañang s proposal to set up additional P500 million standby fund for the mass evacuation and repatriation of 30,000 overseas workers from Lebanon.

However, Pimentel said the amount should be taken from the Overseas Workers Welfare Fund, and not from the National Treasury or national budget.

I support the governments move to appropriate P500 million for the evacuation of more than 30,000 OFWs from Lebanon with the amount to be sourced from the OWWA Fund, he said.

A total of P7.1 billion fund of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration is deposited with government banks, of which the bulk is with the Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines, according to resident auditor Gemiliano Maloles of the Commission on Audit assigned to the OWWA.

Pimentel said the Palaces proposal to tap the National Treasury for a P500 million supplemental budget for the mass evacuation is unjustified since the OWWA has sufficient funds to cover such contingency.