Republic of the Philippines 
House of Representatives 
Quezon City, Metro Manila 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
House Bill No. _______ 
INTRODUCED BY REP. PM VARGAS 
AN ACT 
PROVIDING FOR A RURAL EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM 
AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
For decades, Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) have kept the Philippine 
economy afloat with their continued individual remittances. Even amidst the 
pandemic when economies worldwide were dwindling, Filipinos continued to 
send remittances to their left-behind families. In 2021, the total remittances 
from OFWs were more than Php 30B1 accounting to about 9% of the country's 
gross domestic product and gross national income2. 
With the decline in the economies in many destination countries, 
hundred of thousands of Filipino migrant workers also had to be repatriated 
as a consequence of the COVID 19 pandemic.3 
As the State ensures that it protects the well-being of its migrant 
workers, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration has been facilitating 
the repatriation of returning Filipinos, providing for airport assistance, 
temporary shelter, psychosocial counselling, stress debriefing and transport 
services. 
1 Statista. 2022. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1242750/remittance-overseas-filipino-
workers-to-philippines/ Accessed Online on September 13, 2022 
2  Agcaoili, Lawrence. February 16, 2022 “OFW remittances hit all-time high in 2021”. The Philippine 
Star.  https://www.philstar.com/business/2022/02/16/2161041/ofw-remittances-hit-all-
time-high-2021 Accessed Online on September 13, 2022 
3 London School of Economics and Political Science. October 8, 2020 
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/seac/2020/10/08/a-heros-welcome-repatriated-overseas-filipino-
workers-and-covid-19/ Accessed on September 13, 2022 
September 21, 2022
9:10 am
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This bill seeks to strengthen the State’s capacity in repatriating our 
distressed Filipino migrant workers who need to return to the country by 
creating a Special Assistance Fund for the Overseas Filipino Workers in 
Distress. Having adequate appropriation will ensure that distressed migrant 
Filipino Workers will have medical expenses within six months upon arrival 
of the OFW, migration fees as needed for over-staying, legal assistance for 
court hearings, and other necessities for OFWs caught in emergency 
situations or are detained. The bill also provides special financial assistance 
to OFWs who have been victims of abuse from their employers, or who have 
been repatriated from host countries due to natural or man-made calamities. 
Through this mandate, we effectively enable the progress of an 
empowered and protected migrant worker. 
In view of the foregoing, the immediate passage of this bill is earnestly 
sought.  
REP. PM VARGAS   
Fifth District, Quezon City 


Republic of the Philippines 
House of Representatives 
Quezon City, Metro Manila 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
House Bill No. _______ 
INTRODUCED BY REP. PM VARGAS 
AN ACT 
PROVIDING FOR A RURAL EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM 
AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines 
in Congress assembled: 
SECTION 1. Short Title. – This Act shall be known as the “Rural Employment 
Assistance Act.” 
SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. – It is declared policy of the State to 
promote a just and dynamic social order that will ensure the prosperity of the 
nation and free the people from poverty through policies that provide adequate 
social services, promote full employment, a rising standard of living, and an 
improved quality of life for all. Towards this end, the State shall provide 
employment assistance to qualified head of family or an unmarried, single 
adult member of qualified poor households in rural areas identified by the 
National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) of the 
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). 
SECTION 3. Rural Employment Assistance Program. – The DSWD shall 
establish and implement the Rural Employment Assistance Program (REAP), 
hereinafter referred to as the Program, in coordination with the local 
government units (LGUs). The Program shall provide temporary employment 
to every qualified head of family or an unmarried, single adult member of 
qualified poor families in rural areas who volunteers to do unskilled manual 
work for a minimum of forty-five (45) days but not more than ninety (90) days 
in every calendar year. 
SECTION 4. Definition of Terms. – As used in this Act, the terms: 
a) “poor” refers to individuals and families whose income fall below the
poverty threshold as defined by the government or those who cannot
afford to provide their minimum basic needs of food, health, education,
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housing and other essential amenities of life in a sustained manner or 
those who have been identified as poor by NHTS-PR; 
 
b) “rural area” refers to a barangay which has a population size of less 
than two thousand five hundred (2,500) and which does not have any 
business establishment with twenty-five (25) or more employees, or five 
(5) or more establishments with a minimum of ten (10) employees, or 
five (5) or more facilities within a two (2) kilometer radius from the 
barangay hall. 
SECTION 5. Assessment to Determine Qualification for Ailment of 
Employment Assistance. – The DSWD, in close coordination with the LGUs 
and other concerned government agencies, shall conduct an assessment of all 
poor individuals and families in rural areas who signify interest to do 
unskilled labor to determine their eligibility to avail of the services and 
benefits under the REAP. 
 
SECTION 6. Rate of Assistance. – Every head of family or an unmarried, 
single adult member of a poor family in the rural areas who qualifies to avail 
of the benefits and services under the REAP shall be entitled to receive for 
each day of work financial assistance equal to the applicable minimum wage 
set by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) in the 
region. The shall also be entitled to the coverage of mandatory social security 
benefits such as those extended by the Philippine Health Insurance 
Corporation (PhilHealth), Home Development Mutual Fund (PAG-IBIG) and 
the Social Security System (SSS). 
 
SECTION 7. Types of Works and Activities. – The DSWD, in coordination 
with the LGUs and other concerned government agencies, shall lead in the 
implementation of the REAP, particularly in projects and activities to be 
identified and undertaken under the REAP should be of the type and nature 
that can be completed in a specific period of time. These projects may include 
the following: 
 
a) Development, rebuilding/rehabilitation of agri-based livelihood assets 
destroyed or lost due to natural disasters such as desilting of irrigation canals, development 
of paddy dikes and rehabilitation of water impounding; 
b) Rehabilitation and or development of common service facilities which 
are being shared and used by poor families as production or 
consolidation centers/units such as post-harvest facilities and public 
markets; 
c) Development or rehabilitation of Physical assets to open up access to 
natural assets where the former is necessary to bring the products of 
poor families to the market such as farm-to-market roads, slope 
protection and bridges; and 
d) Protection of productive assets through mitigation measures such as 
mangrove plating, rehabilitation and tree planting. 
 


SECTION 8. Implementing Rules and Regulations. – Within ninety (90) 
days after the approval of this Act, the Secretary of the Department of Social 
Welfare and Development shall, in consultation with the Secretary of 
Department of Interior and Local Government, Issue the necessary rules and 
regulations for its effective implementation. 
 
SECTION 9. Appropriation. – The amount necessary to carry out the purpose 
of this Act shall be sourced from the DSWD and shall be included in the 
General Appropriations Act of the year following its enactment into law and 
every year thereafter. 
 
SECTION 10. Separability Clause. – If any provision of this Act is declared 
unconstitutional, the same shall not affect the validity and effectivity of the 
other provisions hereof. 
 
SECTION 11. Repealing Clause. – All laws, executive orders, presidential 
decrees, presidential proclamations, rules and regulations or parts thereof 
inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or modified 
accordingly. 
 
 
SECTION 12. Effectivity. – This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days from 
its publication in the Official Gazette or at least two (2) national newspaper or 
general circulation. 
 
Approved,