ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Magsino renews call to revise OFW medical repatriation assistance program 

Magsino renews call to revise OFW medical repatriation assistance program 

Published Nov 7, 2023 12:32 am

At A Glance

  • OFW Party-list Rep. Marissa Magsino has reiterated her call to revise the Inter-agency Medical Repatriation Assistance Program (IMRAP) for all Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who are in need of help. 

FB_IMG_1696987444608.jpgOFW Party-list Rep. Marissa "Del Mar" Magsino (Facebook)


OFW Party-list Rep. Marissa Magsino has reiterated her call to revise the Inter-agency Medical Repatriation Assistance Program (IMRAP) for all Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who are in need of help.

Magsino did so on Monday, Nov. 6 during a policy dialogue about the implementation of Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) No. 2017-0001, also known as IMRAP.

She had earlier filed House Resolution (HR) No. 1373, which sought an inquiry into the implementation of the program.

"Although IMRAP was greatly beneficial during the pandemic, we have also learned valuable lessons from its implementation. Changes have occurred since 2017, primarily the establishment of DMW (Department of Migrant Workers),” the solon said.

DMW is a participating agency in IMRAP, alongside Department of Health (DOH), Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Social Work and Development (DSWD), Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), Philippine Charity Sweepstake Office (PCSO), and Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA).

“Based on our own experiences as we help repatriate OFWs, we also observed some gaps in the mechanism, which should be addressed in the amendments,” she added.

Magsino said these these “gaps” were the “miscommunication or non-coordination between and among the agencies, and the lack of supplementary support to the OF/OFW upon return such as welfare assistance or reintegration assistance”.

IMRAP is an inter-agency objective that established an integrated system on the medical repatriation of overseas Filipinos and OFWs. It also includes distribution of welfare assistance and reintegration assistance.

“However, in actuality, this does not happen all the time or does not happen as smoothly as the JMC envisioned,” Magsino argued.

The lawmaker has pushed for the program’s realignment with current realities and challenges, which may consist of situations outside of medical needs.

She said IMRAP can be expanded to help OFWs who are victims of abuse and human trafficking, as well as those in conflict areas such as in Israel, Lebanon, and Sudan. --Dexter Barro II

Related Tags

marissa magsino ofw Party-list
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.