DoJ: DMW must protect OFWs deployed by LGUs
The Department of Justice yesterday said local government units, or LGUs, may send workers to other countries under their sisterhood agreements, but that the national government cannot relinquish its role in protecting overseas Filipino workers.
Cited as an example are the sisterhood deals struck by many Philippine LGUs with South Korean cities seeking the services of OFWs.
“While LGUs may be the primary actors, we believe that the national government agencies altogether play a very significant role in the protection and promotion of the welfare of the workers covered under the program,” the DoJ said in a legal opinion.
The DoJ said concerning the deployment of OFWs, it is the Department of Migrant Workers that has jurisdiction over them under the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995 (Republic Act 8042 as amended by RA 10022).
It said that the DMW is the primary agency of the government mandated by law to protect and promote the welfare of OFWs after it absorbed all the functions and powers of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.
Justice Undersecretary Raul T. Vasquez issued the legal opinion on behalf of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla. It was sought by Presidential Management Staff Senior Undersecretary Elaine T. Musukat.
Musukat had expressed concerns over the sisterhood agreements between South Korean cities and several LGUs since these include the deployment of seasonal workers in various fields of agriculture and fisheries to South Korea.
The DoJ was told that “several problems have surfaced involving the deployed Filipino workers, such as non-payment or reduction of their agreed wages; bad working conditions; maltreatment; physical and verbal abuse by their employers, which even led to death in some cases.”
It also learned that there has been “news as well of illegal recruitment and some recruiters asking for collaterals for these workers to be deployed abroad.”
Section 35 of Republic Act 7160, also known as the Local Government Code of 1991, grants “LGUs the authority to enter into joint ventures with people’s and non-governmental organizations to engage in the delivery of certain basic services including livelihood projects.”