DOLE looking for alternative markets for OFWs

MANILA, Philippines — With many Filipinos still reluctant to come home amid the brewing turmoil in the Middle East, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is now looking for alternative markets for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to be affected in case conflict erupts.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III reported that the government is eyeing Japan, Russia, China and Canada as alternative markets for Filipinos in the Middle East.

“It’s a long-term effort (not just repatriation), we can also provide them with livelihood with budget coming from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA),” Bello disclosed.

At this time, Bello said, there are indications that most Filipinos will opt for relocation instead of returning back to the Philippines.

“They might opt to stay because as of now we have not received any request for repatriation from our workers even in Iran,” Bello said.

“That’s why we are making available as option relocation. Bring them to other markets,” Bello added.

But if the situation worsens, Bello urged Filipinos in Iran and Iraq to agree for voluntary repatriation so the government would not be compelled to undertake forced evacuation.

“It would be difficult to undertake forced evacuation because you will need to look for them,” Bello noted.

According to Bello, about 90 percent of the Filipino workers in Iran and Iraq are undocumented. Most of them are skilled workers.       

Bello said different government agencies are coordinating efforts for the possible massive repatriation of OFWs from the Middle East. DOLE has only P250-million budget for repatriation of distressed workers, thus he is supporting President Duterte’s call for the allocation of a standby fund, though Bello said DOLE can allocate funding from OWWA for the repatriation.

In 2016, Bello said the DOLE spent over P500 million for the repatriation of 9,000 distressed Filipino workers from Saudi Arabia.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, meanwhile, ordered local government units (LGUs) to provide assistance to OFWs who will be repatriated from the Middle East due to heightened tensions between the US and Iran.

“I am directing all the LGUs to provide assistance and accommodate our returning OFWs,” he told reporters in an ambush interview on the sidelines of the traditional New Year’s Call at Camp Crame in Quezon City.

Año said local chief executives must assist the OFWs in whatever way possible, either financially or with jobs, but said the government would respect the decision of Filipinos who would choose to stay.

OFW department

Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go said with the recent developments concerning Filipino workers abroad, it was high time that legislators started pushing for the creation of a Department of Overseas Filipino Workers. 

“I appeal to my colleagues in the Senate and Congress” to pass the (bill on) Department of Overseas Filipinos or Department of OFW,” Go told reporters in Filipino yesterday. 

“If we had a Department of OFW, there would be only one person answering to the President and the Filipinos. Only one department would be approached and they would coordinate concerns,” he added.

Cayetano, who once served as secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs, agreed to Go’s proposition.

“It is very important to have a full-time secretary who focuses on the welfare and concerns of OFWs,” he said.

In July last year, President Duterte said he wanted a Department of OFW by the end of 2019.

Higher oil prices

Meanwhile, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said yesterday that the government should implement measures to prevent unscrupulous traders from taking advantage of the situation in the Middle East that could lead to higher oil prices. 

“The government must exercise complete vigilance against unscrupulous businessmen who will take advantage of the situation in the Middle East,” Gatchalian said in a statement. 

“We are expecting that the escalating conflict between the US and Iran will affect local pump prices, which may result in the upward movement of prices of consumer goods,” he said. 

He said the Departments of Energy; Trade and Industry; and Agriculture should assign personnel for the purpose of monitoring businesses or form a task force that will act as a watchdog against unusual increase in commodity prices. – With Paolo Romero, Ghio Ong, Emmanuel Tupas