DOLE: ₱30,000 grant for college-level children of OFWs may be distributed by mid-October

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 4) — College-level dependents of overseas Filipino workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic may receive their ₱30,000 cash aid from the government as early as mid-October, according to Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III.

In an interview on CNN Philippines' Newsroom Weekend on Sunday, Bello said the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration is responsible for profiling potential beneficiaries of the one-time financial assistance program.

Among qualified are children of displaced, non-returning, and repatriated OFWs impacted by the global crisis, as well as those who died due to COVID-19. The grantee must also be enrolled or intending to enroll in a state university, college, or a private higher education institution recognized by the Commission on Higher Education.

Based on the profiling by OWWA, the Department of Labor and Employment then submits a list to CHED, Bello said.

"Ang CHED naman, kapag na-iscreen na nila yung sinubmit naming mga listahan, they will now download these funds for the scholarship for one child of every OFW who has been repatriated or who has been displaced because of COVID-19," he added.

[Translation: As for CHED, once they have screened the list we submitted, they will now download these funds for the scholarship for one child of every OFW who has been repatriated or who has been displaced because of COVID-19.]

President Rodrigo Duterte earlier said that around 33,000 students will benefit from the said program, which has a budget of ₱1 billion.