Closure of DFA posts won't affect OFWs

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said yesterday the impending closure of 10 diplomatic posts abroad would not adversely affect Filipinos employed and staying in those countries.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said there are only over 17,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the 10 countries where the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) had opted to close down due to budgetary constraints.

“Filipinos are very thinly spread in those countries and most of them are already permanent residents or have acquired citizenship there, thus they are amply protected,” Baldoz said.

She noted the DFA made proper consultations with DOLE prior to its decision to close down the embassies in Palau, Sweden, Venezuela, Ireland, Germany, Spain, Saipan, Romania, Cuba and Finland.

“We do not have heavy population of Filipinos and protection mechanisms are very well in place in those European countries,” Baldoz said, noting that the DOLE also does not have a Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in those countries, except in Saipan.

But she said DOLE would also close down the POLO in Saipan where the more than 9,000 OFWs are set to leave upon completion of their employment contracts.

“There are no more jobs for OFWs in Saipan so we are closing down our POLO and would just open one in Guam as soon as we start the deployment of Filipino workers there,” Baldoz said.

However, a group of OFWs said the closure of Philippine embassies and consulates would result to further disenfranchisement of Filipino absentee voters.

Migrante Sectoral Party said the closure of Phl embassies and posts abroad would definitely add another major obstacle for overseas Filipinos who wish to exercise their right to register and take part in overseas absentee voting (OAV).

Connie Bragas-Regalado, Migrante Sectoral Party president, said that since the OAV Law took effect, one of the perennial problems of overseas Filipinos who want to vote was the inaccessibility of embassies. 

“Our Phl posts serve as Comelec posts abroad, in charge of facilitating registration and voting for overseas absentee voters. As it is, our Phl posts are not sufficient in number and some are already over-expanding in scope,” she said.

Regalado said there are only 66 Phl embassies, 23 consulates and four diplomatic missions around the world, while overseas Filipinos are scattered in at least 239 countries worldwide.