ZUBIRI PUSHES FOR OFW AGENCY

SENATE Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri has filed Senate Bill (SB) 1323 or “An Act creating the Department of Overseas Filipino Workers (DOFW), defining its functions, and appropriating funds therefor.”

In filing the bill last Tuesday, Zubiri recounted a story: A mother from the province goes out to search for a wellpaying job to be able to support her children. She tries her luck in the city, where she is able to earn around P5,000 per month. But she then learns from a friend, who also has a friend working as a domestic helper abroad and earns as much as P20,000 a month. The mother then thinks to herself, “That is almost four times the amount that I am making now.” She then looks for a recruitment agency and her journey as an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) begins.

Based on the 2018 survey on OFWs by the Philippine Statistics Authority, during the period of April to September of the same year, the number of OFWs was estimated at 2.3 million.

Saudi Arabia remained the top destination of OFWs, and among the occupation groups, “elementary” occupations were the biggest at 37.1 percent.

This group are those employed as construction site workers, cleaners and domestic helpers.

In the same period, the total remittance sent by OFWs was estimated at P235.9 billion.

Some sources, however, reported that the numbers could reach as high as 10 million OFWs or almost 10 percent of the country’s population.

Remittances also reach a total of $31 billion a year, which is about 10 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

Zubiri said despite their substantial contribution to the country’s economy and their sacrifices to be able to provide a better life for their families, OFWs remainedas one of the most underserved sectors in the country.

“They try to get over homesickness everyday, they long for the families that they have left in their homes and, if they get so unlucky, they face physical and psychological abuse in the hands of their employers,” according to the lawmaker.