Duterte signs law on deployment of social welfare attachés to foreign posts

President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a law that institutionalizes the deployment of social welfare attachés (SWAs) to foreign posts.

Signed by the President on April 17, Republic Act 11299 creates the Office for Social Welfare Attaché, which is mandated to deploy personnel to countries with large concentrations of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) as determined in coordination with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Department of Labor and Employment.

It will be the social welfare attaché's duty to manage cases of OFWs in distress needing psycho-social services, including victims of trafficking or illegal recruitment, rape or sexual abuse, maltreatment and other forms of physical or mental abuse, and cases of abandoned or neglected children.

SWAs are also mandated to prepare a social welfare situationer of Filipinos in their areas of assignment, and network with overseas-based social welfare agencies and/or individuals and groups which may be mobilized to assist in the provision of appropriate services.

They should also respond to and monitor the resolution of problems and complaints or queries of OFWs and their families as well as establish and maintain a data bank and documentation of OFWs and their families so that appropriate social welfare services can be more effectively provided to them.

Senator Joel Villanueva, the main author of the new law, thanked the President for signing the measure.

"Now that the SWA has been institutionalized, we are confident that the psycho-social needs of our OFWs will be addressed better," the lawmaker said.

Villanueva said that from 2013 until the first half of 2018, SWAs in various posts have served a total of 78,241 distressed overseas Filipinos.

He said the government allotted P90 million in the 2019 national budget for the SWA office.

At present, there are seven SWAs in the following locations: Saudi Arabia (Riyadh and Jeddah), United Arab Emirates (Dubai), Qatar, Kuwait, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

The senator said additional five posts are expected to be opened this year in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), Jordan, Lebanon, Italy and South Korea. — BM, GMA News