FOLLOWING its decision to digitalize the Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) Pass, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) is now considering geotagging OFWs for better tracking of their whereabouts in the world.
Speaking at a media forum in Manila, Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople said they are now looking at incorporating the geotagging of OFWs in the DMW mobile application as proposed by President Marcos Jr.
She said the concept of geotagging OFWs will be helpful during times of calamity, such as earthquakes and severe weather disturbances.
“In cases like Sudan, we had difficulties in locating our OFWs. With this (geotagging), we can locate them easier and faster,” said Ople.
Geotagging is defined as the process of adding geographic coordinates to media based on the location of a mobile device.
The DMW chief said geotagging OFWs will be one of the possible features in the second phase of the DMW mobile app, which is set to be launched soon.
Another feature, she said, will be the application’s interconnection with the eGov PH Super App of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).
Ople said they are also looking at the elimination of OFW travel taxes and terminal fees based on unique QR codes.
For now, the DMW chief said they want to solely focus on the introduction of the digital OFW Pass, which is the exclusive feature of Phase 1 of the DMW mobile app.
The OFW Pass will replace the traditional Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC).
“We want to take baby steps for now by focusing on increasing the confidence level of our OFWs as owners of their own OFW Pass,” said Ople.
