President Duterte has since been known for his compassion for the overseas Filipino workers (OFW). The sacrifices of each OFW leaving their families behind and work in an unfamiliar territory with people with different culture and attitudes just to give their family the best future they can possibly give is a form of heroism not to mention their great contribution to the economy through their dollar remittances that keep the balance in the country's dollar reserve.
In the last presidential election, the highest turn-out of overseas absentee voters (OAV) that registered and voted was recorded. A big chunk of which believed to be a huge factor why President Duterte won the presidency.
The President's support to the OFWs is so evident that he provided programs and projects to make the lives of OFWs easier. He even said that he will make the Philippines better so that the OFWs may all come home for good.
In the last presidential election, the highest turn-out of overseas absentee voters (OAV) that registered and voted was recorded. A big chunk of which believed to be a huge factor why President Duterte won the presidency.
The President's support to the OFWs is so evident that he provided programs and projects to make the lives of OFWs easier. He even said that he will make the Philippines better so that the OFWs may all come home for good.
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Officials and members of the Duterte Cabinet have reiterated the administration's full support for the OFWs during the pre-State of the Nation Address (SONA) 2018 forum last Wednesday. Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Silvestre Bello said the administration has done a lot to help OFWs since President Rodrigo Duterte took his oath of office in mid-2016.
Among them are the following:
-Established at least 17 One-Stop Shop Service Centers where OFWs can avail of government services.
Participatory Governance Cluster (PGC) co-chair Benjamin Diokno said 1.22 million OFWs have been assisted by One-Stop Shop Service Centers.
- OFW Bank has also been created to respond to the financial needs of Filipino migrant workers and their families.
-The iDOLE OFW ID Card that can serve as Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC) of the OFWs.
“This is free of charge for our OFWs. That’s unprecedented because that’s what the President wanted to give to our OFWs,” labor chief Silvestre Bello III said.
However, due to some issues, the distribution of the OFW IDs has been temporarily canceled.
-The Kuwaiti and Philippine governments, through Duterte’s request, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that provides protection to more than 250,000 OFWs in the Gulf state.
“Right now the cellphones of our OFWs in Kuwait cannot be confiscated by their employers while they have now specific eight hours of works and enough sleeping hours and other benefits,” Bello said.
-At least 13,000 OFWs were stranded in Saudi Arabia when Duterte came into office but through the President’s intervention, and with the help of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, were able to be sent home.
“Through our integration programs, when they (OFWs) came home, they were given financial assistance and livelihood worth PHP20,000,” Bello said.
-Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Manny Piñol also said his department and DOLE have put up a program, under which, OFWs could apply for loans to start a business in food production.
-The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has been providing livelihood and entrepreneurship training courses and seminars for returning OFWs.
-The Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Leonor Briones informed the audience about the DOLE-initiated program called “Sa Pinas Maam at Sir Ka”.
“Those principals and teachers working abroad, we encouraged them to come back and apply again because our salaries for teachers are now higher or equal to what they have been getting abroad,” Briones said.
Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Officer-in-Charge Prospero de Vera III, for his part, said the Philippine government has been coordinating with different education ministries abroad to provide mutual recognition degrees for OFWs.
-Pres. Duterte has signed Republic Act No. 11035 or the Balik Scientists Law that seeks to provide incentives to Filipino scientists to entice them to return home and fill in the gaps in scientific and technological expertise in the country.
“We have done a lot of programs and projects and we intend to do more for our OFWs in the coming years,” Bello said.
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