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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Tulfo slams sloppy efforts to rescue distressed OFWs

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Senator Raffy Tulfo has described the government’s effort to rescue distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) as “woefully short and glaringly insufficient.”

Tulfo issued the statement following his election as chair of the newly-created Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) committee in the 19th Congress.

“I am proud that our OFWs have seen me as safe harbor whenever they were desperate to send their family members home. But, admittedly, my solutions were only symptomatic treatment to a systematic problem,” Tulfo said.

Tulfo vowed that the problems of OFWs would not be overlooked and disregarded anymore.

He said the creation of the DMW signified the “rebirth of hope that we may yet fix the system and improve our means to be proactive in the defense of our OFWs.”

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With the creation of the DMW, the senator asserted that they can now focus on providing legislation that would allow embassies abroad to monitor OFWs, to ensure that abuse is prevented before it is committed.

“We, standing as one, have the opportunity to pass laws that would authorize our embassies abroad to institute offices dedicated solely to the vetting of prospective employers and the enforcement of the laws that are meant to protect our OFWs,” Tulfo said.

“I am more than elated when I was given the honor to be the first chairman of the Senate Committee on Migrant Workers,” he added.

Tulfo, a staunch defender of the marginalized sector with a career in public service spanning over 20 years, presented before his colleagues on Wednesday a series of video clips showing Filipino migrant workers experiencing grave abuse from their foreign employers.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) records showed there were 1.77 million OFWs from April to September 2020, 1.71 million of whom were contract workers.

Sen. Pia Cayetano cited the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families.

She said this was basically a comprehensive international treaty that deals with the protection of migrant workers, their rights, including members of their families.

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