OVERSEAS Workers Welfare Administration (Owwa) administrator Arnell Ignacio was removed from post due to an alleged anomalous P1.4-billion land acquisition deal entered into by the agency under his watch.
In a media forum, Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Undersecretary Patricia Yvonne Caunan, who replaced Ignacio, said the land acquisition deal is already under investigation.
DMW Secretary Hans Cacdac earlier said Ignacio did not resign from post but instead was removed from office “on the count of loss of trust and confidence.”
Cacdac said the land acquisition deal, which was entered into by the Owwa under Ignacio’s leadership, was not authorized by the Owwa Board of Trustees.
Caunan said she already ordered the necessary audit, proper coordination with the Department of Justice for their legal opinion on the matter, as well as with the Commission on Audit.
She said the deal, which was signed in September 2024, was supposedly for the establishment of a half-way house or a dormitory-type accommodation for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to be located near the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1.
Caunan said the funds used for the land acquisition was part of the agency’s budget and not the Owwa trust fund, which came from the pool of funds coming from contributions of member-OFWs, seafarers, and their employers. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)