Senator Imee Marcos on Tuesday said the proposal to establish a full-blown department for overseas Filipino workers is not a magic wand that will make their woes disappear in an instant.
For starters, she said there is no P1.1 billion that can be pulled out of the proverbial hat of the government to finance its operations.
The senator made the remark after the Department of Budget and Management said a P1.1-billion minimum budget is required to create the Department of OFWs (DOFil).
She cautioned against rushing to establish DOFil without resolving issues that will hamper its effective operation as a Cabinet-level agency. Macon Ramos-Araneta
These issues include the government’s tight budget amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the lack of specialized training for DOFil’s future officers and personnel, and the overlapping functions and programs that remain unresolved among different government agencies.
The senator said a more practical solution may be to expand the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.