Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said the proposed bill creating a new department for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) is unlikely to be passed within the year due to lack of time.
“It will be hard to complete it within the year. Maybe next year will the best fighting chance for it because currently we already have time constraints because of the budget,” Pimentel told BusinessMirror in an ambush interview during the sidelines of the summit organized by the Alliance of Bonafide Recruiters for OFWs Advancement and Development (ABROAD).
He said the department will have to wait for 2020 to get its own budget.
“If it will be passed into law effective 2020, it will take time to really form it [new agency]. Once the new law is there it will already be funded in the next calendar year,” Pimentel explained.
Pimentel filed Senate Bill 1445 or An Act Creating the Department of Overseas Filipino Workers.
Christmas gift
For its part, the House of Representatives is optimistic the measure can still become law before the end of the year as scheduled especially after it was endorsed by President Duterte during his State of the Nation Address (SONA) .
“It is already for approval on Monday at the committee level. It will go first at the plenary probably on the first week Wednesday,” Albay Rep. Jose Maria C. Salceda told BusinessMirror in a separate interview.
“It is the Christmas gift of the President to the OFWs,” he added.
Salceda is the head of the Technical Work Group at the House of Representatives tasked to consolidate the 31 bills for the creation of the new department.
However, unlike the Senate version, Salceda said they are proposing to name the new agency as the Department of Filipinos Overseas (DFO) so it will include even Filipinos who became permanent residents in other countries.
Great expectations
Migrant advocates and the recruitment industry are eagerly awaiting the passage of the new law since it is supposed to provide better protection for OFWs as well as streamline their processing.
Philippine Association of Service Exporters, Inc. (PASEI) Vice President Raquel Bracero said among the salient features they want the new department to have is a faster system for OFWs to get their money claims.
“Currently this process takes many months. Some even years. That is why we hope the new department will have the proposed Overseas Labor Relations Commission to handle this,” Bracero said.
The ABROAD convener said they want the new agency to also professionalize the personnel of the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (POLO) so it will be more effective in assisting OFWs.
Latest data from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said there were a total of 8.2 million Filipinos abroad in 2017, of which 3.5 million are already permanent residents in other countries, while 4.1 million are OFWs. The remaining 695, 017 are the estimated number of undocumented Filipinos abroad.
Image credits: Nonoy Lacza