CLARK FIELD, Pampanga—Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III and Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade led the opening of the second Overseas Filipino Workers One-Stop Processing Center over the weekend.
The one-stop shops aim to assist Filipino workers who seek foreign employment in the processing of certain government requirements for deployment abroad.
“This is part of President Duterte’s program to provide convenience to our OFWs [overseas Filipino workers] around the world. They can now go to Clark for the processing of their requirements with the pertinent government agencies,” Bello said in an interview, following the inauguration of the facility.
The OFW One-Stop Processing Center houses 16 government agencies providing services to Filipino workers employed abroad in a single building for added convenience. It is at the Clark Polytechnic on Jose Abad Santos Avenue, just a few kilometers from the Clark International Airport (CIA), as well as the Clark main gate.
Bello said the OFW processing center in Clark is the second of its kind to be established in the country and it is near the CIA to make the processing of government requirements more convenient for migrant workers, considered modern-day heroes for their sacrifice and contribution to the economy.
Bello said the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) will put up similar facilities in other parts of the country, such as in San Fernando, La Union; Cebu City; Cagayan de Oro; and Davao City, among others, adding he would like to have these completed within the year.
Bello said this is also in line with the CIA being developed to ease the congestion at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) in Metro Manila.
“There is now a move to transfer several flights to the Clark International Airport. And the establishment of the one-stop shop in Clark is timely,” he said.
For his part, Tugade said the establishment of the One-Stop Processing Center in Clark is their response to the requirements of certain international carriers, especially those from the Middle East, where millions of OFWs are employed.
Tugade said the processing center in Clark will benefit OFWs residing in Central and Northern Luzon who fly via the CIA in this free-port zone in Pampanga.
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Dole took the lead for the establishment of the said processing center at Clark, with the Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) and the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) providing support for the establishment of the facility.
Among the agencies housed at the processing center are the Bureau of Immigration; Philippine Health Insurance Corp.; Home Development Fund; the Philippine Statistics Authority; the National Bureau of Investigation; the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration; the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration; the DOLE; the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority; the Professional Regulation Commission; the Department of Education; the Commission on Higher Education; the Social Security System; the Maritime Industry Authority; the Commission on Filipino Overseas; and the Bayad Center.
Lakas-Kampi Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of Pampanga; Gov. Lilia Pineda; Angeles City Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan, who is also League of Cities of the Philippines national president and government Peace Panel adviser; PDP-Laban Rep. Cesar Sarmiento of Catanduanes; former Lakas Rep. Renato Diaz of Nueva Ecija; CIAC Acting President Alexander Cauguiran; and members of the CIAC board of directors and officials; CDC Officer in Charge Noel Manankil and CDC officers; and officers and staff of the government agencies housed in the one-stop processing center.
Image credits: Jojo Due