Senate to resume discussion on Department of Overseas Filipinos creation

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate is set to resume its discussion on the creation of a new government department handling exclusively the issues of overseas Filipinos.

Senator Joel Villanueva, who chairs the Senate committee on labor, said the resumption of discussion will happen on Monday, February 15.

Villanueva said the hearings will zoom in on “the primary motivation of thousands of workers who set off to foreign shores just to earn a living for their families and loved ones.”

“Kaya po libu-libo sa ating mga manggagawa ang nakikipagsapalaran sa ibang bansa ay dahil sa kakulangan ng trabaho at oportunidad dito sa ating bansa,” Villanueva said in a statement.

“Wala pong ama o ina na mas nanaisin na mawalay sa kanilang mga anak at pamilya para lang sa hanapbuhay,” he added.

Villanueva called on his colleagues in the national government to “come to the hearings with an open mind.”

“The challenge is to address the disconnect between overseas employment’s policies and programs, rationalize human resource complement, and cut layering, especially in on-site services. We’re looking at this process as rightsizing done right,” Villanueva said.

Villanueva said the government should have programs to prepare for the return of overseas Filipinos and ensure that they will be able to join the labor force in the country.

Moreover, aside from improving frontline services particularly distress and repatriation efforts, Villanueva reiterated the importance of implementing upskilling and re-skilling programs for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and factor in the experience they gained overseas.

Villanueva said that doing so would make them more employable in the local labor market.

In his penultimate State of the Nation Address (Sona) in July 2020, President Rodrigo Duterte reiterated his plea to Congress to pass a law establishing a Department of Overseas Filipinos to address the needs of Filipino migrant workers.

Duterte has been backing the creation of a department dedicated to OFWs since he was a presidential candidate in 2016.

During the 2016 elections, Duterte drew massive support from OFWs.

READ: House conducts first hearing for plan to create Department of OFWs

/MUF