Even with just a year left in office, the creation of a Department of Overseas Filipinos (DOFIL) that aims to address the welfare of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) remained a top priority of the Duterte administration, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said.
Nograles made the statement during a 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 this week.
According to Nograles, the creation of the DOFIL was important because it aimed to merge the functions and mandates of various offices and bureaus that address the concerns of OFWs and Filipinos abroad.
He likewise addressed two issues regarding the creation of the DOFIL: 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).
Nograles pointed out that the model for the DOFIL is "uniquely Filipino and is crafted in response to the needs and clamor of the Overseas Filipino Workers."
" 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," he said.
The former lawmaker 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." These offices will have two major units: the Labor and Employment Facilitation Unit and the Welfare Assistance and Service Unit.
Some of the tasks of the ATN Labor and Employment Facilitation Unit are to:
- 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
- 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.
Meanwhile, 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
- 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