Pimentel pushes creation of department of OFWs

SEN. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel 3rd on Monday raised the need to create an agency that would solely promote the welfare and focus on the concerns of over 10 million overseas Filipino workers ( OFWs).

The senator stressed that the creation of a department for OFWs was one of the campaign promises of President Rodrigo Duterte.

He reiterated his call for the immediate creation of a Department of Overseas Filipino Workers ( DoFW), saying the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration ( POEA) and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration ( OWWA) cannot fully attend to the needs of OFWs.

“Both these government agencies are already understaffed to meet the growing number and demands of our OFWs. A dedicated executive department for our foreign workers is the solution,” Pimentel said. “For instance, OWWA has already complained in 2018 that it has just 420 staff worldwide, 300 locally and 120 abroad, addressing the concerns of 10 million OFWs.”

Pimentel filed on May 10, 2017 Senate Bill 1445 creating the DoFW.

“We urgently need this OFW department. Deployment of workers abroad is not a temporary phenomenon,” he said.

The senator cited reports that the Philippines stands to lose about $ 1.5 billion worth of remittances due to the projected 10 to 15 percent decrease in the deployment of OFWs to the Middle East.

“That’s a big number, considering Saudi Arabia is the most preferred country of destination among OFWs at 25.4 percent, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority ( PSA),” Pimentel said.

Last year, OWWA repartrated around 3,000 workers. The deployment of Filipino workers also declined by 10 percent because of the instability of crude oil prices.

“The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has lowered the growth targets for both personal and cash remittances to 3 percent instead of 4 percent for 2019. We need a more proactive stance to stem this decline,” the senator said.

“We need a national level policy, implemented by a separate government department, that squarely addresses key employment trends and developments abroad because these have direct economic consequences back home,” he said.

“When foreign countries freeze hiring of skilled and unskilled workers, or when maritime agencies rationalize the hiring of our seafarers, the economic consequences are direct and immediately felt.” he added.