The OWWA Fund.
SEC. 37. The OWWA Fund. – The Welfare Fund for Overseas Workers created under Letter of Instruction No. 537 and Presidential Decree No. 1694, as amended by Presidential Decree No. 1809, is hereinafter referred to as the OWWA Fund. The OWWA Fund is a private fund held in trust by the OWWA. Being a trust fund, no portion thereof or any of its income, dividends or earnings shall accrue to the general fund of the National Government. Neither shall any amount or portion thereof be conjoined with government money, nor revert to the National Government. In the same manner, it is exempted from the “one fund doctrine” of the government.
Purpose of the OWWA Fund.
SEC. 38. Purpose of the OWWA Fund. – The OWWA Fund can only be used for the purposes for which it was created, that is, to serve the welfare of member-OFWs and their families which shall include the financing of core programs and services of the OWWA.
No funds shall be withdrawn from the OWWA Fund to respond, aid, supplement, or in any manner augment any required expenditure by other government agencies.
Source of the OWWA Fund.
SEC. 39. Source of the OWWA Fund. – The OWWA Fund is the sum total of the amounts under the management and fiscal administration of the OWWA Board and the Secretariat, including the twenty-five US dollars (US$25.00) contributions that shall accrue to the Fund as fees, investment and interest income, and income from other sources.
Disbursement of the OWWA Fund.
SEC. 40. Disbursement of the OWWA Fund. – Any provision of existing law to the contrary notwithstanding, all incomes generated by the OWWA shall, upon their collection, be retained by the OWWA and disbursed at the discretion of the Board for providing services and other benefits of the OWWA general membership and their families.
Trustees of the Fund.
SEC. 41. Trustees of the Fund. – The Board is designated as the trustee of the OWWA Fund. It is bound by a fiduciary duty to manage the Fund with extraordinary diligence and with utmost skill, care and judiciousness.
Transparency.
SEC. 42. Transparency. – The OWWA Fund shall be managed with full transparency and full public disclosure. The OWWA shall make available all records of how the funds are utilized, disbursed, and invested, in accordance with existing laws.
Reporting of the OWWA Fund Collection and Utilization.
SEC. 43. Reporting of the OWWA Fund Collection and Utilization. – Within fifteen (15) days after receipt of audited reports from the COA, the OWWA Board of Trustees shall submit to the Congress and the President of the Philippines a report showing the total collections of, and the disbursements from, the OWWA Fund and shall publish the electronic copy of the report and make them available online, in a format that is searchable, accessible and useful to the public.
Source: Supreme Court E-Library, Republic of the Philippines. Philippine laws are public documents (works of the government).
