The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) paid the late Senate President Edgardo Angara a special tribute in recognition of his contribution to uplift the lives of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their families.
The OWWA Board, led by its chairman Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III and vice chairman OWWA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac, recently handed over the award to his son, Senator Sonny Angara.
The OWWA Board recognized the late senator for having authored and co-authored “a number of significant laws that uplifted the lives and increased the protection and promotion of OFWs.”
Among these are the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipino Act of 1995; the laws creating the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA); the Free High School Act; the Senior Citizens Act; and the National Health Insurance Act.
“Senator Angara’s name is forever etched in the hearts of OFWs, with the greatest legacy being his son, Senator Juan Edgardo M. Angara, who maintains his father’s resolve to strengthen protection of the rights and promote the welfare of OFWs, most notably as co-author and principal sponsor of the OWWA Act (Republic Act 10801),” the resolution read.
The younger Angara is the sponsor of the OWWA Act that institutionalized and strengthened government’s support to OFWs by making OWWA an attached agency of DOLE. Starting this year, OWWA has received government funding for its OFW programs and services, instead of relying solely from the contributions of its OFW members.
The OWWA Act further ensures that there are jobs and livelihood assistance for displaced and returning OFWs.
Sen. Angara sponsored the law that made balikbayan boxes tax-free, and the Seafarers Protection Act.
The veteran legislator also sponsored the law that made balikbayan boxes tax-free, and the Seafarers Protection Act.
Father-and-son, as senator and congressman, respectively, co-authored the law establishing the Personal Equity Retirement Account (PERA), the country’s first-ever voluntary retirement account with tax incentives for both OFWs and non-OFWs.
Moreover, the father-and-son, as senator and congressman, respectively, co-authored the law establishing the Personal Equity Retirement Account (PERA), the country’s first-ever voluntary retirement account with tax incentives for both OFWs and non-OFWs.
“Lahat ng mga batas na ito ay para tulungan ang ating mga kababayang nagtatrabaho abroad-para suklian ang kanilang mga sakripisyo hindi lang para sa kanilang mga pamilya kundi para na rin sa bansa,” the seasoned lawmaker said.
“On behalf of the Angara family, I want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for this very important gesture that the DOLE and OWWA has bestowed on my father,” the youthful senator said.
