MANILA, Philippines — The Quezon City government and the International Labour Organization (ILO) have signed a deal to set up a Migrant Resource Center (MRC) within the City Hall compound.
The creation of the center implements a city ordinance passed in 2016. Quezon City Public Employment Service Office (QC-PESO) Rogelio Reyes said the MRC will help the city in “implementing at the local level” the national government’s services, while also filling the gap in its policies and programs.
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“From then until now, our goal is to honor our OFWs by taking action and leading them to a future where they will be met with a positive, profitable, and successful cross-border journey,” Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte said in a statement on Tuesday.
It is funded by the European Union through its Safe and Fair Programme for the ASEAN of the Spotlight Initiative, which aims to stop the violence against women and girls.
The initiative will also be backed by the ILO-UN Women-International Organization for Migration BRIDGE Programme to help the Philippines achieve commitments under the Global Compact for Migration.
This initiative is part of Safe & Fair programme, the ASEAN branch of @GlobalSpotlight, a EUR 500M EU-UN partnership to end violence against women and girls.
— EUinthePhilippines???????????????? (@EUinthePH) August 22, 2022
Through the MRC, zssessment and referral services will be given to prospective migrant workers as well as local employment facilitation and psycho-social first aid.
It will also provide stakeholders with the necessary information on migration through the OFW (overseas Filipino workers) Help Desk, which, under the city ordinance, will be created through a memorandum of agreement with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration while coordinating with the QC-PESO.
The MRC will also be home to officials that would provide case handling and legal aid services to OFWs. Meanwhile, reintegration programs will be made available to returning OFWs that include livelihood skills training, re-skilling, and retooling seminars via the QC-PESO.
The center will provide its services to all migrant workers, whether or not they are documented and regardless if they are considered permanent or temporary OFWs. — Kaycee Valmonte with report from Franco Luna
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Disclosure: Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte is a shareholder of Philstar Global Corp., which operates digital news outlet Philstar.com.