DMW, ibinida ang mga bagong programa at serbisyo ng gobyerno para sa mga OFW
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00:00The Department of Migrant Workers requested new government programs and services for overseas Filipino workers.
00:07Let's find out what Louisa Erispe has to say about this.
00:12The Department of Migrant Workers requested new government programs and services for overseas Filipino workers
00:19just a year after President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. visited the country for the last time.
00:25The DMW first requested a rapid process of repatriation to the OFWs in Sigalot, Sudan, and Israel.
00:33The DMW said that the government's move towards OFWs is urgent under the President's order.
00:41The President's marching order, which is the protection of OFWs,
00:45especially in their time of need,
00:47and that is one of the core strengths of the Department of Migrant Workers and our attached agency, the OAS,
00:53is to respond to distressed calls, needs of our OFWs,
00:59especially in the two major international crises that the government is facing in the last, well, one and a half years.
01:07The DMW also agreed to the needs of OFWs, whether it is financial or even legal assistance.
01:14In fact, the use of the Action Fund, a fund for OFWs, has doubled,
01:20with the cost of one billion already, from 2.8 billion for 2024.
01:26But if there is assistance for the land-based, the government did not neglect the seafarers.
01:31Because this year, the government agreed to protect the Filipino seafarers
01:36who were trapped, hostaged, and perished by the Houthi rebels in the Red Sea
01:42In three different incidents, the seafarers' families were able to get immediate assistance.
01:47And it is not easy for the Filipinos to board the ship if it will pass through the Red Sea.
01:54Galot will continue, that's why at the DMW, we also spearheaded the effort to declare that area as a war-like area, zone.
02:02The seafarers should be given the right to refuse sailing, number one.
02:07There should be maritime escort security forces if there is a Filipino crew passing through that area.
02:14There should be armed guards.
02:16There should be a risk and threat assessment given to us,
02:20meaning they have assessed the risk and have concluded that the seafarers will be rendered safe through passage.
02:28But also, recently, we have prohibited those whose ships have already been attacked
02:35from hiring Filipino workers to board ships that will pass through that route again.
02:40Another part of the DMW's program is to ensure that the OFW will not have a hard time adjusting when they arrive in a country and return to the Philippines.
02:50The reintegration program will teach financial literacy to the OFW to avoid scams.
02:57And there is also work allocated for the Filipinos returning home.
03:01In case the worker is being harassed, as I mentioned earlier,
03:05legal assistance, labor assistance, the government is also there.
03:09Why? Because that is part of the well-being reintegration in the host country.
03:14Okay, once that is done, that prepares the OFW for what is called reintegration,
03:22meaning that their work is good, their salary is just right,
03:27they earn in such a way that they can remit and benefit their family here,
03:35school, health care, shelter, and other basic needs.
03:38So, that prepares the family when they return to think about reintegration.
03:45The DMW also urged the OFWs who were victims of illegal recruitment
03:50to postpone their operations in order to enter the country.
03:53If in 2023, seven illegal recruitment agencies were closed,
03:58in the first quarter of this year, only 11 were registered by the DMW.
04:03Because the President's priority is the overseas Filipino workers,
04:07all of this is expected.
04:09The DMW was successful in mentioning the State of the Nation address of the President on July 22.
04:16We retained our Tier 1 categorization in the U.S. State Department Anti-Trafficking in Persons Report,
04:23maybe for the 8th consecutive year.
04:26And that's good because that means the Marcos Administration
04:31for the 3rd consecutive year has maintained the status.
04:35Luisa Erispe for Pambansang TV in Bagong, Philippines.