State-owned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) has entered into a partnership with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) that would facilitate the implementation of the agency’s Rebate Program benefitting 167,000 qualified members.
DBP President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel G. Herbosa said that under a memorandum of agreement (MOA), DBP will serve as disbursing bank where rebates using the PESONet facility would be credited directly to OWWA members’ bank accounts in any of the 53 participating financial institutions with no additional deductions.
“We are pleased to be of service to the overseas Filipino workers as DBP continues to safeguard the benefits of overseas Filipinos whose contributions have helped a lot in the development of our country,” Herbosa said.
DBP is the eighth largest bank in the country with assets totaling P700.9-billion as of end September 2019. It offers various products and services to the overseas worker such as the DBP Electronic Cash Remittance which provides a secure, affordable and efficient way of sending money to beneficiaries in the Philippines; SME loans for OFW entrepreneurs; and soon, an Internet Payment Gateway that will enable OFWs to conveniently pay their OWWA contribution fees online, anytime and anywhere.
OWWA is an attached agency of the Department of Labor and Employment mandated to provide social security, cultural services and help with employment, remittances and legal matters of OFWs. It is funded by an obligatory annual contribution from overseas workers and their employers.
The OWWA Rebate Program is an integral part of Republic Act No. 10801 or the OWWA Act. Under the program, OFWs who have been OWWA members for at least 10 years, have five or more contributions as of end 2017 and have not availed of any OWWA program or benefit are qualified to receive rebates.