Senator Franklin Drilon has raised concerns about the move to create a Department of Overseas Filipino Workers saying doing so would add another layer in the government’s bureaucracy.
“What is wrong with the present set-up that we need an OFW department? Let me make it clear, in my view, the concerns of our OFWs is sufficiently responded to by the present bureaucracy unless you tell me this statement is not true,” Drilon said.
Labor officials said a department specifically assigned to Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) would give the government a chance to remove excess fat in addressing OFW concerns.
“The constitutional guarantee of giving protection to workers and other Filipinos abroad necessitates the strengthening of a unified government agency to ensure the promotion and protection of the welfare and rights of Filipinos,” DOLE Undersecretary Claro Arellano said in a statement.
“The department is in support of the President’s call for the creation of the new department and supports the improvement on the delivery of government services for overseas Filipinos particularly those in distress and those in crisis for emergency situation,” the labor official added.
Labor Undersecretary Jacinto Paras said the establishment of a new department would “streamline the bureaucracy.”
“Although it creates a new department, it does not expand the bureaucracy, as a matter of fact, it will even streamline the bureaucracy by consolidating all the agencies that are functioning to serve and safeguard our OFWs,” Paras explained.
Under the proposed law, the functions of Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO), and the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs (OUMWA) of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will be under the mandate of the OFW department.
Senators Joel Villanueva and Nancy Binay asked why DOLE changed its tune on the creation of an OFW department.
“I’ve attended the committee hearings last Congress, paulit-ulit din ho na sinasabi ng DOLE na hindi sila sang-ayon. Gusto ko lang ho malaman, parang nagugulat ako, nabago ata ng ihip ng hangin,” Binay said during the joint Senate committee hearing.
President Rodrigo Duterte said that he wants to have an OFW Department before the year ends. Senator Bong Go is the main proponent of the bill at the Senate.
(Rappler photo)
