IRR approval firms up functions, structure of Department of Migrant Workers

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the implementing rules and regulations for the law creating the Department of Migrant Workers, which will consolidate agencies related to overseas labor and bring their services to regions outside Metro Manila.

Duterte signed Republic Act 11641, which provides for the establishment of the department, into law last December.  

“Nanduduon sa IRR iyong mga istruktura, yung organizations, yung mechanisms kung paano patuloy na tutulungan natin ang ating mga OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) na na-deploy papunta abroad, kung paano natin po-proteksyonan ‘yung kanilang mga karapatan at kung paano namin ipo-promote ‘yung kanilang welfare,” Philippine Overseas Employment Administration head Bernard Olalia said in a televised interview on Thursday.

(The IRR contains the structures, the organization, the mechanisms on how we can continue to help our OFWs who have been deployed abroad, how we can protect their rights, and how we can promote their welfare.)

Decentralized services

The department is meant to make government services more accessible to Filipino migrant workers.

“Pangunahing layunin po nito ay magkaroon ng policy coherence at ‘yung serbisyo po ay ilapit natin sa ating mga clientele lalong lalo na sa mga minamahal natin OFW,” Olalia said.

(Its main purpose is to have policy coherence and we will bring the service closer to our clients, especially our beloved OFWs.)

Olalia noted that the current systems within the POEA are “highly centralized,” explaining that under the current process, OFWs would have to travel to their main office in Manila to avail of their services.

“Dun po sa DMW, dadalhin na po natin sa regional, provincial offices yung pangunahing serbisyo para sa mga OFWs ibig sabihin, makakapag proseso na po sila sa kani-kanilang mga probinsya,” Olalia said.

(Under the DMW, we will bring the main services for OFWs to the regional, provincial offices so they may process whatever document they need in their respective provinces.)

He added that the legal assistance programs of the POEA would also be made available in the local offices so that OFWs may file recruitment violation cases conveniently in their hometowns.

READ: Immigration reports rescue of 688 trafficking, illegal recruitment victims in 2021 

The new department will consolidate and merge the functions of the following agencies under one body: the POEA, the Department of Foreign Affairs’ Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration’s National Reintegration Center for OFWs, and the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Office of the Social Welfare Attaché. 

The merger will also include the Department of Labor and Employment’s Philippine Overseas Labor Offices, the International Labor Affairs Bureau, and the National Maritime Polytechnic.

READ: Department of Migrant Workers bill passed, hailed 

However, POEA AdministratorOlalia said the agencies will remain independent until the DMW becomes fully operational. 

Transition period

The department has a transitory provision that lasts 130 days from when the law came into effect. This means that it has until June 3 to provide its staffing pattern.

The DMW would then have to work on drafting the budget it would need for 2023.

“Napaka-importante po ng budget ng DMW dahil dyan po manggagaling ‘yung tatawagin nating ‘Action Fund’ na kung saan kukuha po tayo ng pondo para po sa mga serbisyo natin para sa mga OFW,” Olalia said.

(The DMW budget is very important because that is where the “Action Fund” will come from, which is where we will source the funding for our services.) 

Duterte approved the implementing rules and regulations proposed by the transition team, which was led by Olalia and Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs Sarah Arriola. 

The IRR earlier proposed by DMW Chief Abdullah Derupong Mama-o was scrapped. However, without expounding further, Olalia said the two documents are almost the same and only differed in minor details.

READ: Duterte names migrant workers’ agency chief 

However, Olalia noted that the Office of the Administrator will be converted into the Office of the DMW Secretary. 

“Ang ibig pong sabihin niyan, hindi na siya task agency ng DOLE pag fully operational na yung DMW. Magkakaroon po siya ng direct access sa ating pangulo, ‘yun po ang Number 1 na kaibahan po niyan,” Olalia said.

(That means, the office will no longer be a task agency under the DOLE once the DMW becomes fully operational. It will have direct access to our president, that’s the number 1 difference.) 

The Philippine Statistics Agency logged 1.77 million overseas Filipino workers who sent home around P134.77 billion in cash in 2020. 

Meanwhile, the Philippine Institute for Development Studies said 800,000 migrant workers went home to Manila due to pandemic in the same year, calling on government agencies to provide better social protection services for OFWs. 

While OFWs are hailed as “new heroes” for leaving home in order to provide for their families, groups said migrant workers still face the risk of abuse and maltreatment while working abroad.