Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said the bill proposing the creation of a department for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) will be of utmost priority in the House of Representatives upon resumption of session.
Cayetano stressed the need to create a separate department that would solely focus on the protection and welfare of OFWs, especially amid the escalating tensions between the United States and Iraq.
“In the next three months, we will give the Department of OFWs our utmost priority.”
“In the next three months ay yung Department of OFW ay aming bibigyan namin ng utmost priority (In the next three months, we will give the [bill on] Department of OFWs our utmost priority),” the veteran legislator said during the opening of a Malasakit Center at the Taguig City-Pateros District Hospital.
“Para yung mga crisis na nangyayari ngayon na alalang-alala ang ating pangulo, meron isang secretary na tutok na tutok dyan (So that the crisis that is happening now, which worries our President, will be solely focused and prioritized by a secretary),” the seasoned lawmaker added.
House Bill 5832 seeks to create the Department of Filipino Overseas and Foreign Employment that shall be the primary agency tasked to protect the rights and promote the welfare of Filipinos overseas.
Under the bill, the DFO shall also be mandated to formulate, plan, coordinate, promote, administer, implement policies, and undertake systematic national development programs for managing and monitoring the overseas or foreign employment of Filipino workers.
The House has expressed readiness to convene a special session to map out contingency plans for overseas Filipino workers in the Middle East.
“The chamber would also prioritize other bills creating the Department of Water and Department of Disaster Resilience.”
He said the chamber would also prioritize other bills creating new departments—the Department of Water and Department of Disaster Resilience—and tax reform measures.