The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will be turning over its Assistance-to-Nationals (ATN) services for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) starting July.
In a statement, the agency said the turnover will happen on July 1, 2023 in compliance with provisions under Republic Act No. 11641 or the Department of Migrant Workers Act.
Under the law, all assistance cases that involve OFWs, such as legal or medical assistance, repatriation and shipment of remains, shall be handled by the DMW using its AKSYON (Agarang Kalinga at Saklolo para sa mga OFW na nangangailangan) Fund.
However, such policy will only apply in countries where there are DMW offices, which are the following:
Asia-Pacific: Australia, Brunei, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore.
Middle East and Northern Africa: Bahrain, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar and United Arab Emirates.
Europe: Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and United Kingdom.
Americas: Canada and the United States.
OFWs in the said countries who need assistance may contact DMW through hotline numbers 87221144 or 87221155, or email addresses:Â [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]), [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) or [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]).
In countries without DMW offices or for overseas Filipinos who are either students, tourists, dual citizens or permanent outside residents, ATN responsibilities will still be assisted by DFA.
The agency may be contacted through 88344996 or [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]).