President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has given the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) the directive to coordinate with other government agencies about the possibility of creating a “wing” for overseas Filipino workers (OFW) in select hospitals in the Philippines.
Secretary Maria Susana “Toots” Ople, head of the DMW, disclosed this during the Senate subcommittee on finance’s hearing on the proposed P15.2-billion budget for 2023 on Wednesday, October 5.
“The President has given a directive for the DMW and the DOH (Department of Health) to discuss the possibility of just having OFW wings in various hospitals,” Ople told senators during the hybrid hearing.
Ople said the President broached the subject after they presented the proposed OFW Hospital to him.
“And he said, I think the direction towards health services for OFWs would be to look at which hospitals can accommodate an OFW wing,” she said.
Ople also requested lawmakers to allocate more budget for the OFW Hospital in Pampanga which was given only P13-million out of the P749-million original proposal to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
According to Dr. Jose Dator, head of the OFW Hospital, the hospital can be fully operational by 2023 but it needs another P500-million, of which P212- million will go to personnel services, P166-million for the maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE), and P120-million for capital outlay.
Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito, who presided over the Senate sub-committee that tackled the DMW’s proposed 2023 budget, expressed his support for the budget of the DMW.
“The committee looks forward in sponsoring your budget. I would like to personally manifest my support for your budget and operations for the fiscal year 2023,” Ejercito said.
“I hope with our full support the DMW will finally solve the pressing problems besetting our modern-day heroes, our overseas Filipino workers,” the senator further said.