Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 4) — The House of Representatives approved on second reading on Wednesday an administration-backed bill that seeks to create a new department that would become the central body that handles all concerns of overseas Filipinos.
House Bill No. 5832, which aims to create the Department of Filipinos Overseas and Foreign Employment, is one step away from clearing the lower chamber. Similar bills are still pending in the Senate.
The proposed department absorbs the powers and functions of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and the Commission on Filipinos Overseas, the Labor Department’s overseas labor offices and its bureau on international labor affairs, the Foreign Affairs Department’s office for migrant workers, and the Social Welfare Department’s office for international social services.
The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration becomes an attached agency of the department under the proposal.
The department is tasked to be the primary agency under the executive branch to protect the rights and promote the welfare of Filipinos overseas, and to manage and monitor overseas employment of Filipinos.
It will also be administering a ₱5-billion Assistance-to-Nationals Fund which will be used for the repatriation, medical expenses, legal fees and other needs of Filipinos overseas.
The measure also gives the proposed new agency the power to regulate the deployment of Filipino workers abroad and to help prosecute illegal recruiters and human traffickers.
President Rodrigo Duterte identified this measure as among his administration’s priorities in his last State of the Nation Address.
