Saturday, June 14, 2025

Marcos wants OFWs rights ensured

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PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. yesterday directed the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) to ensure the welfare and rights of the Filipinos abroad, especially seafarers and the distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) amid ongoing labor talks with several countries.

Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople said the President, during the Cabinet meeting yesterday, stressed the need to help the seafarers as the Philippines is set to sign today a memorandum of understanding with several organizations of foreign shipowners based in the EU, as well as international maritime organizations to form the first ever International Advisory Committee on Global Maritime Affairs (IACGMA).

She said she will head IACGMA with the advisers coming from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Transportation, and the Maritime Industry Authority.

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Ople said the Philippines is involved in bilateral talks with Romania, Hungary, Portugal and Hong Kong.

She said Portugal plans to employ Filipino workers for its tourism sector and her team would meet with Portuguese officials in the first quarter of this year to discuss its labor requirements.

She said Romania, Hungary, and Portugal are the new emerging markets offering the Philippines labor talks.

Ople said the Hong Kong’s Minister of Labor and Welfare, meanwhile, broached the possibility of holding exploratory talks on the deployment of Filipino caregivers to Hong Kong but discussions are still in the early stages.

She said the Philippines and Singapore also recently signed a communiqué about the hiring of more Filipino healthcare workers. A team from Philippines will fly to Singapore in March to finalize protocols on the hiring of the Filipino health workers.

She also a labor agreement with Japan, which will expire soon, will be discussed during the President’s visit to Japan next month.

Ople said the Philippines is also looking at sending 6,000 Filipino workers to Saudi Arabia this and next month.

Asked about the compensation promised to some 10,000 OFWs in Saudi Arabia, Ople said she was supposed to go there in December of last year but officials in Saudi Arabia requested for more time to arrange the visit.

She said is hoping to get the itinerary for the Saudi Arabia trip this week and the number one agenda in the trip is the commitment to pay the unpaid claims.

Saudi Arabia has committed to pay the unpaid salaries of some OFWs who were employed by construction companies that declared bankruptcy between 2015 and 2016.

Ople said her department is also set to send a team to Kuwait to look into the situation of the OFWs especially those staying in shelters and how to possibly decongest the shelters.

“We are tapping also the social welfare attachés of DSWD who are now part of the department for their expertise on how to upgrade our shelters overseas for overseas workers. Mahalaga po na very humane, dignified and comfortable, and safe ang ating mga residences, temporary residences for our distressed OFWs across the globe,” she said.

OFWS ON DEATH ROW

Ople said the Cabinet will discuss this week death row cases involving Filipinos abroad.

She was asked for updates on government’s executive clemency request to Indonesia for Filipina Mary Jane Veloso who was sentenced to death in October 2010 after being caught with 2.6 kilograms of heroin at a Jakarta airport.

She said the matter lies with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) but Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin will “convene a meeting to discuss transitional matters.” The meeting on Friday will be attended by Bersamin, Ople, Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma, and Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo.

Ople also said DMW is also working closely with the justice department on illegal recruitment and trafficking cases reported in Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos.

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“We continue to maintain a tight watch on the online illegal recruitment and trafficking of workers to those places,” she added.

Ople said there are still a lot of things to do as the DMW officials buckle down to work this year.

She welcomed the release of their P566 million budget for the first quarter of this year as they also focus on the establishment of 16 regional offices and fill-up around 1,000 vacancies this year.

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