Proposed OFW dep’t still Duterte priority: Nograles

By Prince Golez

The creation of a Department of Overseas Filipinos (DOFIL) that aims to handle migrant Filipino affairs is a top priority of the Duterte administration, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said.

Nograles issued the remark during a recent joint hearing of the Senate committees on Labor, Employment, and Human Resources Development; Foreign Relations; Civil Service, Government Reorganization, and Professional Regulation; and Finance on the proposed measure.

The proposed establishment of the DOFIL intends to merge the functions and mandates of various offices and bureaus that address the concerns of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and Filipinos abroad, according to him.

The Palace official also addressed two issues regarding its creation: the specific model for the proposed department and the operational set-up of the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (POLOs), Social Welfare Attaches and the Assistance to Nationals Unit (ATN Unit) under the proposed DOFIL.

Nograles said the model for the DOFIL is “uniquely Filipino and is crafted in response to the needs and clamor of the OFWs.”

The proposal, he added, “brings together, under one command, all the government entities and sub-units serving Filipinos overseas, by consolidating and merging all their functions, resources, personnel, budgets, into one Department.”

The former Davao congressman explained that Section 15 of Senate Bill No.1949 provides that “all programs and services for employment, community empowerment, and assistance to Filipinos in distress shall be consolidated under this onsite office of the Department, which shall be attached to Philippine Embassies and Consulates.”

The ATN Office, in particular, “shall absorb all the powers, functions, and personnel of the POLOs, ATNUs, and SWATs,” he added. These ATNs will be composed of two major units: the Labor and Employment Facilitation Unit and the Welfare Assistance and Service Unit.

ATN Labor and Employment Facilitation Unit tasks include the following:

-ensure the promotion and protection of the welfare and interests of overseas Filipinos and assist them in all problems arising out of employer-employee relationships including violation of work contracts, conditions of employment such as non-payment of wages and other benefits, illegal dismissal, and other similar cases;

-verify employment contracts and other employment-related documents; and

-monitor and report to the Secretary situations and policy developments in the receiving country that may affect Overseas Filipinos in particular and Philippine labor policies, in general.

On one hand, the Welfare Assistance and Service Unit is mandated to:

-provide social and welfare programs and services to Filipino nationals, including social assistance, education and training, cultural services, financial management, reintegration, and entrepreneurial development services;

-provide prompt and appropriate response to global emergencies or crisis situations affecting Filipino nationals; and

-manage cases of OFWs and other Overseas Filipinos in distress needing psychosocial services, such as victims of trafficking or illegal recruitment, rape or sexual abuse, maltreatment and other forms of physical or mental abuse and cases of abandoned or neglected children.

Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)