The Department of Migrant Workers is targeting the full implementation of the digital eTravel pass, replacing the Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC), and becoming the primary document for overseas Filipino workers for departure.
Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said the new system, which aims to streamline processes for OFWs by merging the long-standing OEC requirement with the government’s digital travel platform, is currently on pilot run under the eGovPH app.
“It is being piloted now, and hopefully, by the first day of next year or even possibly earlier, depending on the pilot run, it will be fully operational for all returning workers, hopefully including newly-hired workers. That would already be the outcome document,” he said during an event of the Philippine Association of Service Exporters, Inc. (PASEI) in Pasay City on Monday.
Cacdac said the transition forms part of the Marcos administration’s broader digitization efforts through the eGov PH Super App, which integrates multiple government services into a single platform, and make government transactions more efficient for Filipinos at home and abroad.
Cacdac, however, clarified that OFWs still need to register with the DMW for monitoring and tracking purposes.
“We need to know who they are and where they are so that we can help them if something happens, but the outcome would no longer be the OEC. The e-travel pass and OEC have merged. We will now use the e-travel pass. As long as the worker has an e-travel pass, and he is cleared with the DMW, that would be their main document,” he added.
Cacdac said around 70,000 OFWs already benefited from the system and that the DMW is targeting to reach about 200,000 workers before the launch.
