Presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr hailed the creation of the Department of Migrant Workers as an “excellent solution” to address the plight of OFWs.
However, he added that working abroad should be a choice – and not a necessity – for Filipino families, and that one way to address this issue is to generate more jobs in the county.
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“Maraming nagsasabi, ‘mga bagong bayani, malaki ang utang na loob natin sa kanila’, ngunit hindi natin sila tinutulungan. They have just passed the creation of the Department of Migrant Workers, I think that is an excellent solution,” he said during the 2022 Presidential One-On-One Interviews with Boy Abunda.
“’Pag nagkaka-problema ang ating OFWs, ang Embassy ang pinupuntahan. Ang Embassy wala namang budget ‘yan para kumuha ng abogado, iuwi ‘yung namatay… Now the Department of OFW will institutionalize that,” he added.
President Rodrigo Duterte, in December 2021, had signed into law the measure establishing the Department of Migrant Workers which is dedicated to overseeing the affairs and protecting the rights of millions of OFWs.