Duterte urged to fire migrant workers dep’t chief for usurpation of authority

This January 18, 2020, photo shows Presidential Adviser on Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) Concerns Secretary Abdullah D. Mama-o (standing) in a meeting with more than one hundred members of the Filipino community in Kuwait at the Philippine Embassy. From the DFA website

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte should “immediately fire” newly-appointed Migrant Workers Secretary Abdullah Mama-o for supposedly “putting his personal interest” above the needs of the sector he should protect, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said Thursday.

According to Drilon, Mama-o can be held liable for usurpation of authority if he continues to exercise the functions of the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW)  even if the agency is yet to be constituted.

“His actions are not befitting of a secretary. His issuances have no basis and only disrupt what should have been a smooth transition. Clearly, he is putting his personal interest above the needs of the industry that the law seeks to protect. The President should immediately fire him,” the veteran lawmaker said in a statement.

“Being a former labor secretary, I am very much concerned about what is happening in the industry and its stakeholders – the labor sector, OFWs, and migrant workers. They are the ones caught in the crossfire because of Mr. Mama-o’s actions. His actions are detrimental to the very sector that RA 11641 seeks to protect,” he added.

Republic Act No. 11641, which Duterte signed in December 2021, created the DMW which is tasked to oversee all policies protecting the welfare of Filipinos working abroad.

READ: Duterte picks Abdullah Mama-o to lead new Department of Migrant Workers

Following his appointment, Mama-O recommended the recall of Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) appointments, saying the agency would have to be dissolved with its merger with other agencies to form the DMW.

But Drilon said that Section 23 of R.A. 11641 states that the department shall not be constituted without an appropriation in the 2023 General Appropriations Act, effective implementing rules and regulations, and a staffing pattern.

“I proposed that amendment in Section 23. I should know the legislative intent.  There is no way to satisfy the first condition because we are only in the 2022 Budget. The deliberations for the 2023 budget will not take place until later this year,” Drilon said.

Further, Drilon said Mama-o cannot transfer employees and officers from the agencies to be absorbed into the new department because of the election ban.

Such action is contrary to the law, emphasized Drilon.

“He is a king without a kingdom. He has no department to lead,” the Senate Minority Leader said.

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said the POEA continues to function as an independent agency despite the creation of the DMW, telling Mama-O in a letter dated April 5 that this is because the new agency for migrant workers has not been fully constituted yet.

KGA