President Duterte will certify Department of OFWs bill as urgent

“The President wants this department to be created and because of this, I am sure he will certify as urgent so the passage of the needed legislation for this will be fast tracked,” Roque said in an online press briefing on Tuesday.

Malacañang said President Rodrigo Duterte will certify as urgent the bill creating the new department for Overseas Filipinos.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque issued the statement when asked if the current administration has enough time to create the new department with only two years left in Duterte’s term.

In his public address on late Monday evening, Duterte reiterated his commitment of realizing his campaign promise of creating a new department to manage the concerns of the estimated 10 million Filipinos abroad.

“I’d like to hurry up Congress in this. One of my proposals during the campaign period was the creation of Overseas Filipino [department],” Duterte said.

He also said he wants to create a separate department for Filipino seafarers.

Currently, matters related to Filipinos are handled by several agencies including the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), and the Commission on Filipino Overseas (CFO).

Attached agencies

In a radio interview on Tuesday, Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III he supports the creation of the new department for Overseas Filipinos.

However, he appealed to lawmakers to ensure that in the creation of the department will not lead to the abolition of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), which are both attached agencies of DOLE.

“What I want to happen is not to abolish the agencies like POEA and OWWA, but if both could be integrated in the Department of OFW as attached agencies,” Bello said.

Labor advocates have rejected the creation of the new department stating it is not a guarantee it will lead to better service for Filipinos abroad and its creation will entail additional cost for the government.