Maria Susana “Toots” Ople, secretary of the Department of Migrant Workers. Senate PRIB file photo / Bibo Nueva España
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) will offer 1,000 job postings in 2023 to fill vacancies as it aims to create 16 regional offices.
DMW Secretary Susan “Toots” Ople on Tuesday said the department had received its budget for the first quarter of 2023, which amounts to P566 million, a portion of which will be for establishing the regional offices.
“We also need to fill up around 1,000 vacancies,” she said in a Palace briefing.
The DMW will post announcements regarding the job vacancies as it is still clearing and coordinating information with the Civil Service Commission.
Ople said all 1,000 job vacancies are for plantilla positions, considering that the DMW is a new department.
“Majority ng mga empleyado na na-subsume namin, wala kaming inalis except for those na talagang may ibang career plans but most of them were really absorbed by the DMW and yet kulang pa,” she said.
(Most of our employees were subsumed when the department was created, yet they are still lacking.)
She said job vacancies would include lawyers, entry-level staff, and social media producers.
Former overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) or those still working abroad may apply for the positions, Ople said.
“Siyempre competitive ‘yan, we want a very professionally run department, so ‘yung padrino system, pwedeng we will look at the qualifications of each candidate,” she said.
(Of course, that will be very competitive. We want a professionally run department, so we will be looking very carefully at each candidate’s qualifications.)
The DMW is also looking into establishing four DMW offices abroad, Ople said.
They are currently looking at Bangkok, Thailand and Guam as possible locations for the offices.
“We are assessing the needs of our workers and looking at employability, foreign employment opportunities, the size of the OFW population, as well as welfare cases in those countries, and the vulnerability of our workers in those countries,” Ople said.