LAWMAKERS pushed for the passage of a measure creating a Department for Overseas Filipino Workers which will provide prompt, immediate and effective response to the problems and needs of OFWs here and abroad.
This as the House committees on government reorganization and on overseas workers affairs approved the creation of a technical working group that shall consolidate six proposals to establish a DOFW.
Rep. Virgilio Lacson, vice chairman of the committee on government reorganization, stressed the need for Congress to pass a measure that shall create a single entity which will address the concerns of Filipino workers around the globe.
“The DOFW creation aims to promote the overall welfare, rights and needs of OFWs, which is a fitting recognition of the significant contribution of OFWs to national economic progress,” Lacson said.
Buhay party-list Rep. Mariano Michael Velarde, chairman of the committee on overseas workers affairs, identified certain issues which need to be considered prior to the consolidation of the bills.
Velarde said these include: a provision in Repubic Act 8042, or the Migrant Workers Act, stating that while the State recognizes the significant contribution of Filipino migrant workers to the economy, it does not promote overseas employment as a means to sustain economic growth and achieve national development; the source of appropriation for a newly created department should be identified; the fate of the present agencies tasked to look after the welfare of the OFWs; and the status of RA 10801, or the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration Charter.
Pangasinan Rep. Rose Marie Arenas, one of the authors of the bill, agreed with Velarde, saying it is about time to create the DOFW that will take full charge of the deployment and repatriation of OFWs, when the need arises.
“There should be one agency which will be made accountable to the OFWs and their families,” said Arenas.
Based on the December 2013 report of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas, Arenas said there are 10 million Filipinos residing overseas. “There is an urgent need for a single agency that can provide a comprehensive and consolidated approach to protect their rights and interests,” said Arenas.
Arenas also cited a Bangko Sentral report showing that OFWs’ remittances in 2015 alone hit more than P1 trillion, or one-third of the total budget for 2016. “This has spared the country’s economy time and again from the harsh global economic meltdown experienced in recent years,” she said.
Another author of the bill, 1-PACMAN Rep. Michael Romero, lamented the absence a single government body that will cater to all the needs of OFWs.
Romero said despite the significant contributions of OFWs, who serve as the nation’s lifeline, there is still no single government agency which attends to their needs.
Romero cited that about 9.8 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product and 8.3 percent of Gross National Income last year alone were contributed by OFWs.
“It is high time that our OFWs feel the support and protective care of our government by creating the DOFW that will specifically cater to their needs,” said Romero.
During the hearing on the bill, Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre Bello III manifested that they have already started streamlining OFW-related processes and services with the establishment of a one-stop shop in several venues, and have put up a 24/7 hotline (1349) for all workers, especially those abroad.
The six bills were House Bill HB 227 authored by Deputy Speaker Eric Singson; HB 288 by Romero; HB 543 by Arenas; HB 822 by Bohol Rep. Arthur Yap; HB 1936 by Rep. MarkVillar of Las Piñas City; and HB 2334 by Rep. Carlos Cojuangco of Tarlac.
The same proposal was filed in the past Congresses but did not prosper.
