OWWA gives financial help to OFW family in Abra

Relatives of an overseas Filipino worker who died in December 2010 received livelihood and educational assistance from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration. The OWWA’s Cordillera office provided the assistance to the family of Rebecca Orillosa Bocarile of Bucay, Abra, the Philippine Information Agency reported Tuesday. Bocarile, who died of refractory septic shock due to complications from pneumonia, worked as a household service worker in Bahrain. She left behind husband Carlito, and three daughters Emie Rose, 11, Trisia Ann, 9, and Eprilyne, 7. Carlito, who is employed as a casual government employee in Abra, received from OWWA last March a P120,000 check, which covers the death and burial benefits of his wife. Last Aug. 3, Carlito received a P15,000 check under OWWA’s Educational and Livelihood Assistance Program (ELAP) for the family’s backyard piggery project. He also received a two-day Entrepreneurial Development Training, which is essential for the sustainability of their livelihood project. Emie Rose, a Grade VI pupil in Mandalipay Elementary School in Abra, availed of the ELAP scholarship to ensure her studies. Under the scholarship, she will receive a subsidized scholarship of P5,000 a year in grade school, P8,000 a year in high school, and P10,000 per year in college, until she finishes a baccalaureate or vocational course. OWWA-CAR regional director Manuela Peña said the ELAP aims to provide special benefit package to cover the continuous education for one eligible dependent of a deceased OFW until the completion of his or her tertiary education or a vocational course. It also provides financial grant assistance for a livelihood project to the legal spouse or dependent of deceased OFWs. As of July 22, OWWA-CAR has 28 scholars and 26 beneficiaries of livelihood assistance under the ELAP. — JE, GMA News