Dep’t of Filipino Overseas bill hurdles House panels

The House Committees on Government Reorganization and Overseas Workers Affairs jointly approved a consolidated bill creating a new department that shall be the primary agency tasked to protect the rights and promote the welfare of Filipinos overseas. (File Photo: House of Representatives of the Philippines/Facebook)

MANILA — Two committees at the House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a bill creating the Department of Filipino Overseas (DFO).

The House Committees on Government Reorganization and Overseas Workers Affairs jointly approved a consolidated bill creating a new department that shall be the primary agency tasked to protect the rights and promote the welfare of Filipinos overseas.

Under the bill, the DFO shall also be mandated to formulate, plan, coordinate, promote, administer, implement policies, and undertake systematic national development programs for managing and monitoring the overseas or foreign employment of Filipino workers.

The department shall be granted the power to initiate, pursue, and help prosecute illegal recruitment and human trafficking cases in coordination with the Department of Justice.

It shall be responsible for the protection of the rights of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to decent work and fair and ethical practices.

The department shall improve cooperation and coordination with countries of destination, and monitor labor developments in foreign jurisdictions to ensure that the terms and conditions of work afforded to OFWs, are in accordance with applicable and appropriate Philippine, on-site, and international standards.

The DFO could also regulate the operations of private recruitment and manning agencies and related business entities involved in the employment of Filipinos abroad to uphold the primacy of the welfare and protection of OFWs.

Social and welfare services can be offered to OFWs, which include insurance, social work assistance, legal, assistance, cultural services, and remittance services.

The bill proposes the establishment of the career Assistance-to-Nationals corps similar to the foreign services corps and the foreign trade representative corps.

Under the one country-team approach, all officers, representatives, and personnel of the Philippine government posted abroad regardless of their mother agencies shall, on a per-country basis, act as a one country-team with a mission under the leadership of the Ambassador or the Consul General.

A management information system on Filipinos overseas, particularly on OFWs, to support its operations and to have a source of relevant data for programs and policy formulation.

The powers and functions of the following agencies shall be absorbed by the DFO: Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs; Commission on Filipinos Overseas: Philippine Overseas Labor Offices; International Labor Affairs Bureau; Philippine Overseas Employment Administration; and the Social Welfare Attaches Office.

The DFO shall exercise administrative supervision over the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) as an attached agency for purposes of policy and program coordination, monitoring and evaluation.