House bill seeks creation of separate department for OFWs

In response to President Rodrigo Duterte's promise during the campaign period, a party-list lawmaker filed a bill seeking to create a separate government department for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
The proposed agency, to be called Department of Migration and Development (DMD), will ensure a "unified, fast, and coherent approach in extending government services to Filipinos overseas and their families at home," said ACTS-OFW party-list Rep. Aniceto Bertiz III.
"This bill seeks to build on the President's campaign promise to our OFWs for a separate department," Bertiz said in a statement Monday.

Bertiz's House Bill No. 192 serves as the counterpart measure of the Senate bill filed by Senator Cynthia Villar, which also proposes the creation of a separate department for OFWs.

Duterte, during the campaign period, had vowed to create a full-pledged department that would streamline and simplify the bureaucratic requirements for Filipino workers aspiring to work or already working abroad.
Bertiz, a neophyte lawmaker who himself is a former OFW, said at the present set-up, an aspiring OFW needs to go through at least seven agencies from the time he files his application to the actual day of his departure. He said this proves to be too costly for the OFW.
"The responsibility for the well-being of our OFWs cuts across several agencies and departments, leading to finger-pointing in times of crisis, and worse, inaction when the life of an overseas worker hangs in the balance," he said.
Bertiz said his bill also seeks to strengthen the reintegration program for OFWs.

Under HB 192, the proposed DMD will plan, develop, and manage the national migration and development agenda in consultation with various stakeholders, to promote the protection, safety, development and support of and for OFWs and their families.

It also seeks to provide a comprehensive and responsive social service protection program, including the strengthening of the on-site welfare and legal services in the Philippine Missions abroad.

Likewise, the DMD also aims to strengthen the repatriation and reintegration services for migrant Filipinos to facilitate their re-entry into their respective communities, intensify the prevention of human trafficking and the prosecution of illegal recruitment, among others. —KBK, GMA News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more