Office of the President of the Philippines Commission on Filipinos Overseas PART 1 BAYANIHAN TO HEAL AS ONE ACT (adopted from https://www.covid19.gov.ph/bayanihan-accomplishments-tracker/) Coverage period: 16 March 2020 – December 31, 2020 Budget Allocation CFO Secretary Acosta directed CFO to Reprogram, reallocate, and enhance the agency’s austerity measures. realign savings on other items of Generated savings amounting to appropriations in the FY 2020 P10,213,000.00. The said amount was GAA withdrawn by the DBM from the CFO’s allotment as per Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) Nos. 9234046, 9234050, & 9233910 as CFO’s contributions for measures to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Information Series of Media Interviews Promote public awareness and understanding concerning the The CFO continuously strengthens its COVID-19 situation presence thru online media. Recently, CFO embarked on a series of online media interviews through Secretary Francisco P. Acosta and Undersecretary Astravel Pimentel-Naik for the following series of media interviews: 1. 27 June 2020 – (The Fourth State) Talaluvzradio 947FM - Canada-based Radio Station) 2. 24 June 2020 - Mindanao Daily News Radyo Natin 106.3 FM CDO 3. 22 June 2020 - PTV News Mindanao/Davao 4. 20 June 2020 –(Online Radio Interview with Nanay Anita) Pnoy FM Radio Tokyo 5. 18 June 2020 – (Balita Na, Serbisyo Pa) DWIZ 882 6. 18 June 2020 – (Coffee Break with Henry Uri and Missy Hista) DZRH 1 7. 17 June 2020 –Oras na Pilipinas, 702 DZAS – FEBC Radio 8. 16 June 2020 – Teka, Alas 4;30 na DWIZ 882 9. 13 June 2020 – Kabayani Tallks of the Filipino Channel (TFC) 10. 13 June 2020 – (The Fourth State) Talaluvzradio 947FM - Canada-based Radio Station 11. June 15, 2020 -Radio Breakfast Extreme DJ Doods Guam 6:30 am (Philippine time) 12. June 18,2020 - Multicultural Family Music Broadcasting -South Korea interview by Ms. Genie Kim 13. 05 August 2020 – Buhay-buhay sa Amerika (online radio show) 14. 12 September 2020 – Pulso Asintado with Levi Tatad 15. 10 October 2020 – Buhay-buhay sa Amerika (online radio show) 16. 12 December 2020 – Kabayani Talks – “Usapang Pasko at Bayanihan ng mga OFW ngayong Pandemya” CFO’s partnership with various overseas and Philippine-based media outlets provides an opportunity for CFO to discuss its programs and services including its pandemic response to affected overseas Filipinos. The CFO created a Viber Community specifically for the Filipino Diaspora to strengthen its engagement and continue extending its services to Filipinos all over the world. To follow the group, just search CFO Online Overseas Filipino Community on Viber. The Commission also continuously employs communication strategies to promote public awareness via regular creation of social media posts in its various social media accounts. To date, CFO’s social media accounts record a daily average of more than 450,000 reach. This has a total of 46.8 million individuals reached (individuals) over the past 3 months. 2 Overseas Filipino Welfare The CFO is providing assistance to returning Provide necessary assistance to overseas Filipinos (non-OFWs) who were affected OF repatriated as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. There are overseas Filipinos who returned to the country during this pandemic who are not Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). The CFO caters to other categories of overseas Filipinos, including permanent migrants and cultural exchange participants. As of November 15, the CFO has assisted a total of 593 overseas Filipinos (non-OFWs). On top of the 10.213M, the CFO also disbursed a total of 10,035,950.04 for the accommodations and meal allowance of repatriated J1 and Au Pairs when they were stranded in Manila. Specifically, the CFO provided food and accommodation assistance to 463 repatriated Exchange Visitor Program participants (J-1 visa) from the United States for the entire duration of the Enhanced and General Community Quarantine periods. The rest of the assistance were spent on sixteen 123 stranded au pairs in Cebu and Manila and provided accommodation and case management to 2 marriage migrants and their respective families; and 5 permanent residents. CFO also coordinated with the Philippine Coast Guard, Bureau of Quarantine and the San Lazaro Hospital for the conduct of the Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) Test for said clients. The PCG dispatched teams to the different hotels who swabbed and collected specimens from the clients. The results of the test are also requirements for Local Government Units to accept clients in their specific hometowns. Moreover, since the mandatory RT-PCR testing upon arrival of incoming passengers and facility-based quarantine was imposed in 3 the first week of May, clients also had to spend time at the port of entry (Manila or Cebu City). As they are not OFWs, they were unable to access assistance by other migrant-serving agencies, such as the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration. Since this is unplanned for most, they have sought the assistance of the CFO for their immediate and urgent needs. Ongoing implementation of online registration system called OF-CORS (Overseas Filipinos- CFO Online Registration System) in lieu of PDOS. There were 5,848 Overseas Filipinos that availed the services of OFCORS since its launching on March 25. Prior to the implementation of quarantine measures, CFO registered 16,359 overseas Filipinos broken down as follows: 11,774 permanent migrants 3,511 spouses/partners of foreign nationals 748 Exchange Visitor Program participants 326 Au Pairs Services and Facilities for Elderly Clients, Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), Pregnant Women, and Nursing Mothers To complement national legislations that provide special assistance and privileges for the elderly, PWDs, pregnant women and nursing mothers, CFO also has services and facilities that offer a more accommodating and comfortable process during their pre-departure registration, such as the following: Emigrants who are 60 years old and above are only required to register with CFO and are exempted from attending the mandatory Pre- departure Orientation Seminar. Their registration can be done personally or through an authorized representative at the CFO main office or at its satellite offices in Clark, Pampanga and in Cebu. Senior citizens have also the option to register at the CFO 4 desk at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport during their departure bound for their respective home countries. A separate and a priority lane in the CFO registration area is being provided to senior citizens, PWDs, and pregnant women. Priority is also rendered to elders who are partners of or married to foreign nationals during their attendance to the mandatory Guidance and Counseling Program (GCP), specifically to the one-on-one interview portion of the GCP with the Guidance Counselors. An access ramp is available to permit wheelchair or other mobility aid users, as well as parents using child trolleys for infants, to conveniently access the registration area at the ground floor of the main office. A nursery room is also established within the vicinity of the main office for mothers who need to bring their children for and during registration. This also provides privacy as a breastfeeding room for mothers who need to nurse their infant children. A defibrillator, two wheelchairs, a stretcher, and a medical first aid kit are readily available for potential accidents or emergency purposes. Overseas Filipino Centenarians As one of the implementing agencies of the Centenarian Act of 2016, which aims to pay tribute to all Filipinos reaching 100 years old whether living in the Philippines or abroad, the CFO also serves as the secretariat for applications overseas by reviewing endorsements from the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office, and by preparing a complete folio of all qualified applicants for endorsement to and evaluation and approval of the Department of Social Welfare and Development. Migrant Statistics on Senior Citizens and Other Classifications As part of its initiatives to provide efficient services and citizen-centric programs to its 5 clients and to adequately formulate policies for the welfare of overseas Filipinos in general, the CFO also maintains a registry of sex- disaggregated data based on classifications such as places of origin, countries of destination, occupation or profession, civil status and educational attainment, among others. The Exchange Visitor Program Committee of the Philippines adopted a resolution Providing for a Moratorium on the Participation of Filipino Nationals in the Exchange Visitor Program of The United States of America during an emergency meeting of the EVP Committee to address concerns of EVP (J-1) participants stemming from issues arising from the Covid- 19 crisis. The Resolution was consequently published in the Official Gazette on May 25, 2020. Two resolutions have been adopted and published by the EVP Committee, exempting participants in US government-funded programs, university- and college-based participants, and teachers with perfected contracts before the effectivity of the moratorium. Online meetings of the Exchange Visitor Program Committee of the Philippines are also regularly being convened in view of the concerns arising from the implementation of the program. The CFO initially waived the registration fee of P400.00 per client when the National Capital Region was placed under the Enhanced Community Quarantine. Following the imposition of the General Community Quarantine in NCR on June 1, the CFO launched an online payment system that accommodates payment of registration and courier fees for CFO clients who register via the Overseas Filipino-CFO Online Registration System (OF-CORS). 6 Continuous implementation of 24/7 response mechanism where clients can either call, text, email or interact via social media Continuous supervision on the welfare of the marriage migrants and Filipinos in distress. As such, an Online/Tele-counseling for the Spouses or Fiancé(e)s/Partners of Foreign Nationals was set-up. 4,300 were counseled through this service.