OWWA Warns OFW Lounge Services At Risk Due To Budget Cut

MANILA, Philippines—The current level of service at airport lounges for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) may be halted in 2026 due to a proposed budget cut, according to Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Administrator Patricia Yvonne Caunan.

During a House of Representatives committee hearing on Friday, Caunan stated that the P142 million allocation in the 2026 National Expenditures Program (NEP) would not be enough to sustain the amenities offered at even one of the OFW lounges. These lounges provide essential services such as free food, water, Wi-Fi, and charging stations for OFWs in transit.

Caunan also revealed that plans to expand the lounges to other airports, including Clark International Airport and Mactan-Cebu International Airport, would be impossible without additional funding.

Agimat party-list Representative Bryan Revilla called for the full restoration of the proposed 2026 budgets for both the DMW and OWWA, arguing that the combined P10.2 billion allocation is "ironically lower" than the P2.2 trillion in remittances sent home by OFWs in 2024.

"What our OFWs contribute in a single year is over 215 times larger than what we propose to invest in the very institutions mandated to protect and serve them," Revilla said. He emphasized that the lounges are not luxuries but "vital sanctuaries" for OFWs.