DOLE Offers Assistance to Kristel’s OFW Mom
MANILA – The Department of Labor and Employment assured the family of 21-year-old Kristel Padasas that they will receive assistance on account of Padasas’ mother being an overseas Filipino worker.
Padasas, a Catholic Relief Services volunteer, died when a speaker mounted on a scaffolding fell on her amid bad weather caused by tropical storm ‘Amang.’ She was in Tacloban to attend Pope Francis’ mass.
In a statement, Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration (OWWA) will provide Padasas’s mother, Judy, with psycho-social counselling.
Baldoz added that the OWWA will also send two officers to condole with the Padasas family during the wake.
Judy Padasas has been working as a domestic worker in Hong Kong for 19 years and is an active OWWA member.
The Department of Labor and Employment assured the family of 21-year-old Kristel Padasas that they will receive assistance on account of Padasas’ mother being an overseas Filipino worker.
Baldoz added that if Judy Padasas decides to stay in the country for good, she is also entitled to benefits as job referrals should she wish to pursue wage employment, and business counseling and financial literacy training if she wants to pursue entrepreneurship.
If she opts for the latter, she can also avail of a business loan from the P2 billion loan facility of the OWWA being implemented in cooperation with the Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines.
She can also avail of the Balik-Pinas, Balik Hanapbuhay program of the DOLE and the OWWA, which provides displaced or distressed OFWs either a grant of small livelihood starter kit or a livelihood grant assistance.