Shortly before the start of the 17th Cabinet Meeting with President Rody Duterte in Malacañang today, I met with Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III and discussed with him the proposed OFW Agriculture Investments Program.
I explained to him that following a successful model of an OFW investments program between Don Bosco Multi-Purpose Cooperative and Dubai-based Filipino overseas workers, the Agriculture Department is looking at tapping other OFWs to provide financing to rice and corn farmers.
Under the set-up, OFWs will finance rice and corn farmers of up to P20,000 which will be used in buying seeds, fertilizers and farm inputs.
The OFWs’ investments will earn an interest of 6% per harvest with guaranteed two harvests every year or earnings of P2,400.
The program is expected to improve food production in the country while at the same time offer safe investments for the OFWs earnings.
Filipino OFWs remit an estimated $50-B every year to their families back home.
After a brief explanation on how the program will work, Sec. Bello immediately endorsed the investments plan.
He asked the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) to prepare a Memorandum of Agreement which we will both sign.
The MOA will set the guidelines on the program and identify the roles and responsibilities of our respective departments.
After the MOA is signed, the DAF and DOLE will conduct orientation briefings for OFWs around the world to brief them on how they could invest.
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