Imee Marcos seeks creation of department for OFWs

Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos. (File photo from Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos calls on President Rodrigo Duterte to prioritize the creation of a department that would focus on the concerns of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Marcos stressed that many OFWs get into trouble at their workplaces abroad, sometimes incurring severe physical abuse resulting in death, as in the case of domestic worker Joanna Demafelis whose body was found in a freezer at her employer’s home in Kuwait last year.

“There is no government agency solely focused on giving our OFWs the assistance they and their families direly need. Worse, there is no agency directly responsible for putting in place responsive policies that can secure the welfare of our OFWs in the long term,” she said.

Marcos also said that the concerns of OFWs “go beyond just deployment” and include repatriation, legal aid, financial literacy, and post-deployment retraining for other jobs, among others.

“There is also the welfare of their families to attend to. We really need a dedicated department to squarely address the needs of our migrant workers. I intend to make this a priority legislative measure to support the President’s initiatives for the OFWs,” Marcos said.

“We cannot afford any more delays in creating a Department of Migration. We need a whole-of-government approach to protect our OFWs and, eventually, reach that point where migration becomes a matter of choice and not a matter of survival for Filipino workers,” she added.

Marcos said she had started preparing a proposal for the establishment of an OFW savings and loan association such as the AFPSLAI, Inc. that would be provided with a grant by the government to be used as a seed fund and mandated to provide financial, investment and credit assistance to OFWs. /atm