First order issued by DMW head draws flak

Sec. Abdullah Mama-o | SCREENGRAB FROM INQUIRER.NET VIDEO

MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte should “immediately fire” his newly appointed secretary of the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) for the latter’s “erroneous” and “self-serving” interpretation of the law that created the new government agency last year, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said on Thursday.

Drilon blasted new Migrant Workers Secretary Abdullah Mama-o following reports that the President’s former adviser issued Department Order No. 1 directing all agencies “consolidated and merged into and constituted as the [DMW]” to abide by the provisions enumerating the powers and functions of the Office of the Secretary.

Mama-o’s directive also supposedly said that all pertinent documents in relation to said powers and functions shall require the signature of the secretary.

But Drilon clarified that the appointment of Mama-o as DMW secretary was just as a member of the transition committee and that, according to Section 23 of RA 11641, the department shall not be constituted without an appropriation in the 2023 General Appropriations Act, an effective implementing rules and regulations (IRR), and a staffing pattern.

“The issuance of IRR by Mama-o is contrary to the law, specifically Section 23 of RA 11641. It is illegal and void. [The] IRR cannot be the work of a single person,” Drilon said.

Drilon also added that under RA 11641, Mama-o cannot transfer employees and officers from the agencies to be absorbed to the new department because of the election ban.

More biting

Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. was more biting in reacting to the IRR issued by Mama-o.

In a Twitter post, Locsin said the newly created department is “for the next administration to set up,” adding that the DFA is “not transferring funds to alleged officials of a nonexistent office.”

“[Mama-o] can only exercise limited powers under the transition committee, with other officers from the different departments,” Drilon said.

According to a separate statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said that, at present, the DMW is undergoing its two-year transition period and is yet to publish its IRR, planning its staffing pattern, and preparing its budget proposal.

“In the meantime, all migration agencies to be subsumed are still under the control and supervision of their respective parent agencies until such time as the legal requisites have been fulfilled for the DMW to be deemed fully constituted,” the DFA said.

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