The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has moved the full issuance of the OFW ID card to October.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said he has formed a task force that will come up with an implementing guidelines for the issuance of the much-hyped card called iDOLE, which was earlier announced to be available to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) by August.
“One of my instructions to them is that the guidelines should come out by the first week of October and the ID card should come out ready for delivery by end of October,” said Bello.
The special body is headed by Labor Undersectary Ciriaco Lagunzad III.
Meantime, Bello reiterated that iDOLE is free. “I just want to make it very clear na itong iDOLE is free for all the overseas Filipino workers. Libre po yan. Ang daming nagpakalat sa social media na may my bayad na Ph500, Ph200. Wag po kayo maniwala. Huwag po kayong maniwala. It will be given to all OFWs for free. Kung meron yang bayad, hindi na lang itutuloy ang programa,” he said.
iDOLE is more than just an ordinary identification card as it has multi-functions like a one-stop-shop.
“Kasama po iyong pagverify sa NBI, Immigration, at iba bang sangay ng pamahalaan, kasama na ang DFA. Ang vision po ay iyong card ay isang card na magagamit pambayad ng mga babayarin na natin kasama na ang utilities, SSS, Pag-IBIG, at saka PhilHealth,” Lagunzad said.
“With the card, you will be able to go to a site where you can enter into the portal of the various agencies. You can verify whether your contributions have been paid and make sure they are up to date. It is a virtual one-stop shop,” he added.
