MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) on Saturday hailed the Senate approval of its first-ever budget that would make it fully constituted.
The Senate green-lighted an allocation of nearly P17 billion, including more than P1 billion to its original proposal, as the first budget of the DMW.
READ: Senators okay P17-B budget for DMW in 2023
The DMW budget includes P4.324 billion for the Office of the Secretary, P11.769 billion for the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, and P230 million in annual recurring allocations for retirement and life insurance premiums, for a total of P16.323 billion.
“A lot of hard work went into the crafting, defending and approval of the DMW’s 2023 budget. We appreciate our legislators’ love and compassion for our OFWs and their families,” agency’s chief Toots Ople said in a statement.
Ople also thanked the Senate “for recognizing the need to augment and approve” the DMW’s 2023 budget, which is the agency’s department’s first ever and a requirement for its full constitution.
“We commit to full transparency, accountability, and judicious use of public funds,” she added.
The agency’s 2023 budget will support its programs which include setting up 16 DMW regional offices and centers across the country; Overseas Employment Adjudication Offices in Metro Manila, and in Regions 3, 4-A, 7, and 11; and expanding Migrant Workers Offices, formerly known as Philippine Overseas Labor Offices, in selected overseas locations.
The Senate also provided an additional appropriation of P500M for the operationalization of the OFW Hospital in Mabalacat, Pampanga.