Online OFW monitoring system launched

MANILA, Philippines — Families of overseas Filipino workers can now check the condition of their loved ones online as the government starts implementing an online OFW welfare monitoring system (OWMS).

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said OWMS is a web-page system that will be used by local recruitment and manning agencies as a tool to report the condition of OFWs they have deployed.

In a memorandum circular, the POEA ordered all recruitment and manning agencies to submit an initial status of the workers three months after deployment abroad.

A regular monitoring report shall be submitted every quarter, but in cases of significant incidents, the agency shall submit a report within five days from its occurrence.

The POEA gave agencies three months to submit similar reports for OFWs deployed prior to the implementation of the system.

Agencies with an existing POEA e-services account shall simply log on to www.poea.gov.ph to access the help desk facility.

An individual monitoring report file will be created for each worker deployed. Reports on significant and critical incidents shall be treated “active” until such time the POEA declares it closed.

The Workers Education and Welfare Monitoring Division of the POEA shall manage each report submitted by the recruitment and manning agencies. The WEWMD shall evaluate and submit regular analysis reports to the administrator.

Agencies that fail to comply with the requirement shall face administrative sanctions.