THE law that creates a separate department dedicated solely for seven million overseas Filipinos took effect on Thursday (Feb. 3), and President Duterte is expected to name the Cabinet secretary who will head it.
However, the term of the Duterte-appointed secretary for the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) will be short-lived with the election slated this May 2022, and a newly elected president is expected to name his/her own set of Cabinet members.
During the virtual forum hosted by the BusinessMirror and the Blas F. Ople Policy Center and Training Institute, present and retired officials involved in overseas employment said the public has high expectations from the DMW in delivering effective and expedited services to OFWs.
Under Republic Act 11641, the DMW will integrate all sub-agencies of different departments involved in overseas Filipino laborers, namely: the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO), National Maritime Polytechnic (NMP) and International Labor Affairs Bureau all under the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE); the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs or UMWA from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA-OUMWA); National Reintegration Center for OFWs under OWWA; and Office of National Social Welfare Attaché (OSWA) from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) will be transferred from DOLE to DMW, still as an attached agency.
The DMW shall also have the police, regulatory, fiscal and prosecutorial powers when it comes to cases of illegal recruitment and human trafficking of workers.
“All subsumed agencies will be under the holdover capacity except that we expect that the President will appoint a secretary or acting secretary anytime soon because there are really timelines that have to be met,” Sarah Lou Arriola, undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs of the Department of Foreign Affairs, said.
The forum was organized to coincide with the 95th birth anniversary of Ople, the late former labor minister, foreign affairs secretary and Senate President.
By March 5, according to Arriola, there should be a department order on the use of action funds, similar to the Assistance to Nationals Fund of the DFA. Then by April 4, the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the law should already be finalized. By June, the DMW should also submit its budget requisites before the Department of Budget and Management, alongside its staffing pattern.
The law provides for a two-year transition period before the DWW will start to officially function as a department. Arriola said the full implementation of the law will depend on the political will of the next President and how much his/her administration values OFWs and migration as a whole.
“Whoever he or she [next President] will be, that person would have a very big shoe to fill because during the Duterte administration, there is so much emphasis on the protection of our migrant workers. Anywhere in the world, we are second to none in terms of migrant protection and we are gold standard to migrant protection,” Arriola claimed.
She said one of the key factors would be the budget the new administration would be willing to allocate to the DMW for the fiscal year 2023.
“Like any other department, there will be a lot of growing pains, adjustments. The DFA stands ready to assist,” Arriola said, adding that if there are no DMW attachés assigned in one post, the Philippine Embassy or Consulate would take charge.
In inspirational remarks at the start of the Ople Forum, DFA Secretary Teodoro Locsin said that despite the creation of a separate department for OFWs, the department will still continue to uphold “diplomatically and in real practical terms” the third pillar of Philippine diplomacy, i.e. protection and promotion of the rights of Filipinos overseas.
“The new Department cannot do this job; diplomacy is the DFA’s exclusive remit. Helping and protecting overseas Filipinos remains our job, our duty, and our honor,” Locsin added.
“Today, overseas Filipino workers are considered heroes not only by their fellow Filipinos but also by their host communities. It is only right that we honor them, in true Blas Ople-style, by continuing to fight for their protection and rights, particularly in this unprecedented pandemic challenge.”
The DFA chief, who was known to be a good friend and admirer of Ople, added: “Without the inspiration of Blas, whose legacy is kept alive by his daughter, Susan and the Center bearing his name, none of this would have happened. There would still be overseas Filipino workers—but totally at the nonexistent mercy of unscrupulous Filipino recruiters and of their foreign masters who will see them and treat them as slaves.”
Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said, for his part: “We, the men and women of the labor department recognize the immense contributions of ‘Ka Blas’ specifically on the advancement of labor and employment in our country.”
Bello recalled how Ople “steered the labor department for almost 20 years as labor minister at the age of 40, like me, in 1967 and until 1986. His length of service is unmatched and his trailblazing contributions to advance the interest of the Filipino working men remain unparalled.”
Bello and Locsin both noted Ople’s pioneering achievement as the first Filipino president of the International Labor Organization.