For many overseas Filipino workers, the $25 OWWA membership is just another item on the pre-deployment checklist. That small payment unlocks more than a dozen programs. They can protect your family in an emergency, help send your children to college, and support you in starting a business when you come home.
The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) groups its benefits into five areas: social benefits, scholarships, skills training, reintegration, and pre-departure and repatriation services. Most programs require an active membership, so check your status before anything else.
Cash Aid When Families Need It Most
The largest payouts go to the families of active members who pass away. OWWA releases ₱100,000 for a death from natural causes and ₱200,000 for an accidental death. A ₱20,000 burial gratuity is added on top, so the total can reach ₱220,000.
Other support includes:
- MEDplus: Up to ₱50,000 for hospitalization due to serious illness. You need both an active OWWA membership and an active PhilHealth membership to qualify.
- Welfare Assistance Program (WAP): Cash relief for disasters, bereavement, illness, and mass layoffs. It is open even to inactive members.
- ELAP: Up to ₱10,000 a year in school aid, plus ₱15,000 in livelihood support, for dependents of members who passed away.
Scholarships for OFW Children
Three college grants are available:
- EDSP: Up to ₱60,000 per school year for top passers of the DOST exam.
- ODSP: ₱20,000 a year for children of OFWs earning $1,000 or less a month. No national exam is required.
- CMWSP: ₱60,000 a year for priority science and technology courses. OFWs themselves can apply, not just their dependents.
Training and Upskilling
OFWs and their dependents can take tech-voc courses under the Skills-for-Employment Scholarship Program, worth up to ₱14,500 per course. Seafarers can use the Seafarers’ Upgrading Program for up to ₱7,500 per course at accredited maritime training centers.
Coming Home for Good
Returning members can get ₱20,000 in starting capital through the Balik-Pinas, Balik-Hanapbuhay Program. For bigger plans, the OFW Enterprise Development and Loan Program with LANDBANK lends up to ₱2 million to individuals or ₱5 million to groups. The interest rate is fixed at 7.5% a year.
To qualify for the loan, you must finish OWWA’s business training and apply within three years of arriving home.
Support Before and During Deployment
All departing workers attend the Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar (PDOS). Household service workers go through the longer Comprehensive Pre-Departure Education Program (CPDEP), which covers language, culture, and daily life abroad.
If you become distressed, sick, or stranded overseas, OWWA’s Repatriation Program can help with travel, temporary shelter, and transport to your home province.
You can renew your membership through the OWWA mobile app or at any OWWA office. For questions, call the OWWA hotline at 1348 or visit the nearest Migrant Workers Office.