Quezon City, Philippines- President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday, July 12 sought to establish a new department that will address the needs of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs).
During the celebration of Araw ng Pasasalamat sa OFW Summit in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, the President expressed support for the proposal creating a separate executive department on Filipinos working overseas to protect them from any illegal recruitments.
The President promised to finish the framework for the creation of OFW department by the second week of August.
“Let me sleep on it for about… Next week, busy. August. Second week of August, meron na ako (I already have the framework). Maybe I can create the office of OFW,” Duterte said during the Araw ng Pasasalamat for OFWs.
“Bawal na ang recruitment sa labas. Kung gusto nila, under the supervision of government and walang horrendous charges, hindi ako papayag nang ganoon,” President Duterte said.
“Apurahin ko ‘yang Department of OFW,” he added. “Buong Pilipinas ito. Bawal na ‘yang recruitment diyan sa labas na punta ka doon. Doon ka makipag-deal, may listahan doon. Mamili ka na lang kung sino ang gusto mo at ‘yan regulated and I have the power to do that because that kind of mechanism of recruiting Filipino workers abroad has been abused and abused and abused,” he also added.
Department of OFWs power
“A dedicated executive department for our foreign workers is the solution,” Senator Koko Pimentel said earlier this year on the possibility of having a separate department.
The main objective, at least from the pronouncements of Pres. Duterte and Go is to protect OFWs from illegal recruitment. The secondary objectives are to (1) provide financial support to OFWs through the creation of the Overseas Filipinos Assistance Fund; and (2) ensure prompt and efficient provision of services to OFWs through the creation of OFW Malasakit Centers.
Some experts said that having a separate department that will focus on the welfare of workers working overseas would have advantages at certain points. First, it will focus more on the welfare addressing the needs and concerns of OFWs. A new department can do monitoring on the behavior of recruitment agencies deploying Filipino workers overseas, whether legal or not, that would also protect the rights of OFWs while working abroad.
The new department can also present reliable and relevant jobs available for Filipinos based on trusted ones could monitor the entrance and exits of working Pinoys in every country, and could promote a good connection between the government and OFWs anywhere in the world.
But according to Governance and Public Fiscal Administration expert Dr. Patrick Carlos de Leon, and also Associate Professor and Program/ College Secretary, Extension Programs in Pampanga and Olongapo, University of the Philippines Diliman said that the objectives of the pronouncements are very noble. However, he asked if where would the budget for this new national government agency be sourced. If this will come from new taxes, from OFW contributions of OFWs themselves, or simply from new allocations in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) and later, the General Appropriations Act (GAA)?
“Will the new department absorb all the officials and personnel of the POEA, the OWWA, and other agencies? Will, there be no displacement or job loss?” he asked.
He also said that the creation of the Department of OFWs makes the practice of sending Filipino workers an official government policy and the practice, which has continued through several administrations until the present. “The country will be criticized in the international community if it has the policy of sending its people overseas,” de Leon said.
“Is there a guarantee that the new department will not be reduced to a central recruitment agency for overseas jobs?” de Leon said.
According to him, most governments in the industrial and developing worlds are minimizing their roles and interventions in the market, including the job market. “Here comes the Philippine government trying to increase its role and intervention in the market. Will, this not give the market the wrong signal? Will this not discourage investment?” he explained.
Content of the bill
Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go stressed the President’s aspiration of creating a new department, since he believes many OFWs are still asking for assistance.
“Nais po ng Presidente na maiwasan ang illegal recruitment ng mga OFW. Marami pong mga biktima na lumalapit sa kanya at lumalapit sa akin na nabibiktima ng mga ito. Dapat na itong matigil,” Go said in an interview, as cited in the Senate’s press release.
Senator Go also cited one of the first senate bills he filed which was SB 202 or the Department of Overseas Filipinos Act of 2019.
This legislative measure proposes the establishment of a Department of Overseas Filipinos that will serve as an umbrella agency to address the issues and concerns of overseas workers including their families. The said measure also aims to protect them, promote their full and just employment, mitigate the social costs back home and serve as a channel to address OFW issues and grievances.
“Masakit makitang iniiwan ng mga kababayan natin ang mga pamilya at mahal nila sa buhay upang makapagtrabaho lamang sa mga malalayong lugar. Suklian natin ang kanilang sakripisyo ng mas maayos na serbisyo para sa kanila at kanilang mga pamilya,” he claimed.
False promises
“Melanie” (not her real name) only worked for five months in Dubai. She received false promises from her recruitment agency in the Philippines.
She applied as a public cleaner but when she arrived, she was deployed as a household service worker.
“We arrived here using a tourist visa. My friend recommended her agent for me to find work abroad. We arrived last February 16 around 2 am, and we went straight to our accommodation. Upon arriving, they confiscated all of our passports” she expressed.
Melanie asked the recruitment agency why she became a domestic helper even if she applied as a public cleaner. The agency said that her work was just part-time. But her employer wanted her to finish the two-year contract, according to Melanie.
“I was over fatigue from work. My employer wanted me to bring to immediate hospital but I don’t have an ID yet,” she said. But her recruitment agency said “That’s not our problem anymore. Whatever happens to her, it’s the employer’s prerogative already.” “Bear the pain. They’re not hurting you,” Melanie shared.
Melanie was disappointed and feared everything that might happen soon so she escaped and went to the embassy. Voices of overseas Sonny “Boy” Rivera, a founding member of OFW Joint Force Worldwide and now based in Saudi Arabia believes that the possible creation of a new department would be a solution to all overseas workers’ immediate concerns.
“Sa dinami dami ng mga OFW na nagkakaproblema dito sa ibang bansa sa tingin namin kailangan talaga ang magkaroon ng Department of OFW para madaling matulungan ang mga OFW na nagkakaroon ng problema dahil hindi sapat ang OWWA at POEA o DFA,” Sonny Rivera explained.
“Madali na kami makahingi ng tulong hindi lang mga OFW pati na rin mga pamilya naming na nasa Pilipinas,” he said. “Eight years na kasi kami tumutulong sa mga OFW as usual nahihirapan kami dahil matagal ang response ng iba’t ibang ahensya, kaya sa tingin namin pag may Department of OFW na hindi na kami mahihirapan,” Sonny added.
Traces
Senator Aquilino Pimentel III early this year expressed the idea of creating a specific department that would cater to the needs of overseas workers as multibillion-dollar annual remittances that help strengthen the Philippine economy comes from OFWs.
Pimentel believes that DOLE can focus exclusively on domestic employment while a separate department is needed to handle overseas employment.
“We urgently need this OFW Department. The deployment of workers abroad is not a temporary phenomenon. I agree that our main goal is still to provide a good employment environment here, but the fact is there are millions of Filipino workers abroad. There will always be those who will choose to work abroad, even if their numbers may dwindle or even if they will eventually come back home to retire. We should offer our modern Filipino heroes greater focus and protection than we give them at the moment,” Pimentel said.
Also, the Commission of Filipino Overseas under the Office of the President is an agency responsible for promoting and upholding the interests, rights, and welfare of overseas Filipinos. Established on 16 June 1980 through Batas Pambansa 79, it was enacted “to strengthen the government’s policy on the promotion of migrant welfare and interest.”
The CFO registers and provides pre-departure orientation seminars to emigrants. It also promotes the transfer of technology as well as material and financial contributions from overseas for development projects in underserved communities all over The Philippines. It also provides younger generations of Filipinos overseas with opportunities to learn Philippine history and culture.
Manny and Cynthia Villar has also taken the advocacy of helping out distress OFWs through the Villar Foundation, which provides skills training and entrepreneurship for OFWs and families.
