Overseas Filipino workers and their families gained easier access to free medical consultations and medications with the launch of a new pharmacy program by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, aiming to extend support beyond their time abroad.
The “Alagang OWWA Botika” debuted Friday in Pasay City, led by OWWA Administrator Patricia Yvonne Caunan. The initiative is designed to combat feelings of neglect among returning workers, offering ongoing health care through partnerships with the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) and private provider VidaCure Pharmacy.
“After so many years of working abroad, when they return to the Philippines, our compatriots sometimes feel like they were neglected and feel like OWWA no longer cares for them. That is not true,” Caunan said during the event.
The program falls under PhilHealth’s YAKAP initiative, which provides beneficiaries up to 20,000 pesos ($350) in annual medicines from accredited pharmacies. For OFWs and their dependents, services are available at OWWA’s Pasay headquarters, Gateway Mall in Quezon City, or Festival Mall in Alabang, Muntinlupa.
Free medical checkups with YAKAP-accredited doctors are offered every Friday at OWWA facilities. Prescriptions from those consultations can be filled at the Pasay botika from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
For recipients like Maribel Santiago, a Pasay resident whose husband worked in Saudi Arabia, the program brings more than just pills — it delivers financial relief and security.
“It is better now because they offer many free services,” Santiago said. “This is a big help especially for OFW families. Health is very important, and before a large part of the income went to medicine. Now, expenses are reduced and you can save for other household needs.”
Kimberly Ondona Badong, a mother of six who recently returned from Oman after battling hypertension, praised the effort but called for broader reach. Living in Maguindanao, she urged expansion to regional offices, including in Butuan, to aid families far from the capital.
“OWWA did a really good job, because everything is free: doctors, checkups, medicine,” Badong said. “But I hope it will be available in our province too. Pasay is far away and I have a child who has been coughing for a long time.”
Caunan announced plans to deploy a mobile medical and laboratory truck donated by First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, providing free diagnostics like X-rays, ultrasounds and blood tests. The botika program, currently in pilot phase, is set for nationwide rollout.
“Let’s make every Friday a Yakap Day,” Caunan said. “We want our OFWs, active, retired, or those who have returned for good, to feel that they remain cared for. Even when they are no longer earning abroad, they can still rely on government support for their health needs.”
