Marino party-list solon backs OFW-department bill

Marino party-list Representative Carlo "Sandro" Gonzalez on Monday backed the Senate bill that would create a department for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) as he believed the new office could better help resolve the problems of Filipino seafarers.

“Seafarers, as OFWs, are especially vulnerable because they spend most of their time abroad aboard ships in the high seas, where they are unable to seek assistance for their concerns,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez added that seafarers faced problems particular to their situation, such as training and accreditation, due to their highly technical field.

Aside from this, these Filipino workers also confronted legal and psychological issues.

“Seafarers also face illegal recruiters, abuse, loneliness, and all other problems that OFWs have to contend with, but seafarers must face it at sea where there is no way to help them until they come back to a port. They must also visit so many different countries, where various laws may be in force, in the course of a single deployment,” said the party-list representative.

Gonzalez hoped that once the proposed department was established, it would also have a special unit for seafarers.

Senator Bong Go had filed Senate Bill No. 202, or the proposed Department of Overseas Filipinos which has been endorsed by President Rodrigo Duterte.

Gonzalez said he was interested in filing a counterpart bill in the House of Representative to facilitate the passage of the measure. — DVM, GMA News