Passage of migrant workers department law lauded

MANILA, Philippines — Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) stand to be treated as “first-class citizens” and enjoy better protection against abuse now that the Senate has passed the law creating the Department of Migrant Workers (DOMW), the country’s largest labor group said yesterday.

Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) president Raymond Mendoza lauded the passage of the new law as an early Christmas gift to the millions of Filipino workers abroad.

“For far too long, our OFWs were hailed as our heroes but were often treated as second rate and second-class,” Mendoza said. “With this new Department, this is our national commitment to them and their families, that they are truly first-class citizens.”

He said OFWs should be treated well as their personal remittances have kept the economy afloat before and during this pandemic.

However, he cited how “OFWs were last in line for vaccination, not given green lanes to facilitate their travel, and were faced with extreme difficulties in claiming their just compensation.”

“They also had contracts which were replaced and substituted at will by employers and recruiters who milked them dry and sometimes killed them. Their passports and phones were confiscated, and they were treated as commodities,” he added.

The TUCP said the pandemic has amplified the OFWs’ clamor for a better government response to address unemployment, hunger and poverty.

Mendoza said the new law maintains the policy that labor migration is a choice and should not be a necessity.

He said the new DOMW will rationalize government functions as to the overseas employment of Filipino migrant workers and ensure that their human and labor rights are protected at all times.

It covers all migrant workers deployed and to be deployed, contract workers, seafarers and fishers on board, and excludes Filipinos living abroad.

But overseas Filipinos will continue to be serviced by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and will still be covered by the P1-billion ATN fund, and the P200-million legal assistance fund.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) will become the backbone of the new department to ensure that it can hit the ground running and will not have a long learning curve.

The new department will also “promote the empowerment and protection of Filipinos working overseas by empowering and training them to gain appropriate skills and by ensuring access to continuous training and knowledge development.

“As principal sponsor of this bill, we have taken all precautions to ensure that no additional cost will be charged to our OFWs who already carry a huge financial burden – borrowing money and selling properties just to be able to work abroad to provide for their families,”  Mendoza noted.

Mendoza said the new department will also mainstream government initiatives to strengthen reintegration program for the sustainable return of OFWs into Philippine society, with livelihood projects, wellness programs, financial literacy programs and other similar projects based on the specific needs and skills of the returning OFWs. – Alexis Romero