Rep. Sandro Gonzalez of MARINO party-list group on Friday urged the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to extend financial assistance to families of seafarers and Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) for the reconstruction or repair of their houses destroyed by typhoon “Odette.”
Gonzalez issued the call amid the massive relief effort launched by the government and the private sector for the typhoon victims in Visayas and Mindanao.
“I am calling on OWWA to extend financial assistance to families of seafarers and OFWs specifically for the reconstruction or repair of their houses destroyed by the typhoon. It can be the start of rebuilding their lives. I suggest this should be the priority of OWWA while the other government agencies are addressing the immediate basic needs of the victims,” Gonzalez said in a statement.
The MARINO party-list group represents in Congress Filipino seafarers, sea-based OFWs, and fisherfolk.
Gonzalez said OWWA should grant the financial assistance without requiring the target beneficiaries to submit “volumes” of documentary requirements and undergo too many steps.
Gonzales also praised Filipinos here and abroad for immediately responding to the needs of the typhoon victims by sending relief goods and cash donations.
“Once again, the Filipino people have shown and proven to all that we are willing and capable of forging the strongest and widest unity when disasters like this strike. I have unwavering faith in our humility to set aside differences to wield our character as a resilient nation in facing challenges like calamities,” Gonzalez said.
