During her meeting with the Filipino community in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia On February 3, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo announced that the government has earmarked P1 Billion for the Filipino Expatriate Livelihood Support Fund (FELSF). It is one of the safety nets for Overseas Filipino Workers displaced in the current global economic crisis.
The FELSF is supported by government lending institutions like the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP).
Under the FELSF, a displaced OFW may borrow up to P50,000.00 for him or her to start a livelihood project or business enterprise. The loan is available at five percent interest per annum with no collateral and is payable for over 24 months with an interest-free grace period of 80 days.
Another of the government’s scheme to upgrade the skills of Filipino workers is – the skills-retooling program for Filipino expatriate workers is going where the Filipino workers in foreign countries are.
Under the scheme, professional licensure examinations for Filipino in selected countries like Qatar, Hong Kong and now, Saudi Arabia, will be conducted to prepare OFWs for skilled jobs that command higher salaries, President Arroyo said.
The objective is to sustain the upgrading of the capabilities of Filipino workers, who are already the employees of choice in various countries for their honesty, industry, reliability and capability to easily learn new skills.
