Labor Chief Silvestre Bello said he prefers the idea of establishing a commission dedicated to Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) rather than creating an entirely new department as being pushed by President Rodrigo Duterte.
“Kung ano’ng sabi ng Presidente, susunod tayo. Pero baka we’ll look for a new formulation na instead of department, baka pwedeng commission na solely dedicated to the protection of our overseas workers,” Bello told ABS-CBN News.
Duterte has said he wants to have a Department of OFWs not later than December.
Bello added that senior labor officials are now drafting a proposal to create a new OFW body that will do the functions of government agencies handling OFW issues.
Government’s latest data show that there at least 2.3 million OFWs.
