President Duterte’s promise to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs)—a main source of the country’s foreign reserves—to create a new government department solely for OFW concerns needs a law passed by Congress.
To be fulfilled, the Senate and the House of Representatives must fast-track passage of an enabling law, the process of which—from filing the bill, referral for committee hearings, plenary deliberations and bicameral approval—is likely to take four months.
“Yes, a law is needed,” Senate President Aquilino L. Pimentel III told the BusinessMirror on Sunday.
But even if the President were to certify it as urgent legislation, realistically, the earliest it could be passed would be August, according to Senate Majority Leader Vicente C. Sotto III, assuming the Palace-endorsed bill is filed right after Congress resumes regular sessions on May 2, when lawmakers reconvene from their Holy Week break.
“Malabo June, too soon. Perhaps August,” Sotto said in a text message at the weekend.
The submission of the OFW Department bill envisioned by Duterte is also likely to coincide with marathon public hearings and overtime plenary deliberations to facilitate approval of next year’s proposed national budget, along with other pending pet bills being pushed for enactment by administration and opposition lawmakers.
Speaking before Filipinos in Bahrain, Duterte pledged to work for early passage of a law creating a department of OFW “within a few months”, even as he earlier admitted he has no hold on Congress.
“By the way, for overseas workers, in a few months you will have a department on OFW only,” the President said, confirming he had also instructed Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III to cut down processing of documents
for OFW deployment.
Duterte added: “Sinabi ko kay Bebot [Bello] ’yun…siguro i-reduce na namin ang inyong [processing] from six weeks to three weeks. You can use the online service at kayo doon kung gusto maghanap ng trabaho, you just direct kung ano, at ilista na ninyo diyan at mamili kayo, then you apply online. Ganyan lang.”
The President said he expects the new OFW department to help facilitate the process for recruiting OFWs. He added the move to shift online is also envisioned to reduce risks that OFWs will be victimized by illegal recruiters “because only legitimate jobs can be seen online”.