(INQUIRER FILE/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ)
MANILA, Philippines — A turf war among government agencies are delaying the Senate’s passage of a separate department for overseas Filipinos in the Senate, Senator Imee Marcos said on Monday.
“There’s a turf war going on, involving mandates and budgets. Senators on both sides of the political fence are willing to approve what President [Rodrigo] Duterte has certified as urgent, but the DOLE, DFA, and DSWD must be willing to let go of certain attached agencies,” Marcos said in a statement.
“We hear the clamor of our OFWs who are hoping for a one-stop shop, not a merry-go-round of redundant offices in various departments and agencies,” she added.
Marcos said an organizational chart of the proposed Department of Overseas Filipinos (DOFil) showed that the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) were “unwilling to give up” attached agencies.
Sen. Imee Marcos (Screen grab/Senate PRIB)
Such attached agencies, she pointed out, can be consolidated in order to avoid redundant positions, reduce government costs, and cut the time, effort and expense of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in availing government assistance.
Earlier, senators requested that an organizational plan for the proposed department be submitted to the Senate.
Marcos said the agencies that can be consolidated into DOFil are the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration, and Labor Affairs Bureau which are currently under DOLE; the Office of Migrant Workers’ Affairs and the Commission on Filipinos Overseas under the DFA; the International Social Services Office under DSWD; as well as the Office of Muslim Affairs, which is under the Office of the President.
“Consolidation means savings that can solve the lack of funding for an honest-to-goodness OFW repatriation program,” Marcos said.
If establishing DOFil continues to be “problematic,” the senator suggested that the POEA can instead be expanded into a National Overseas Employment Authority (NOEA).
“The NOEA will be a less costly option for the government while preserving the institutional knowledge and memory of the POEA – itself a consolidation of the Overseas Employment Development Board, National Seamen Board, and Bureau of Employment Services,” she said.
“Upgrading the POEA would be more feasible and prudent if the Covid-19 pandemic endures and the country needs to spend more on health and social protection programs,” she added.
The bill seeking the creation of DoFil is still at the committee level in the Senate.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has already approved its own version of the measure in March last year.