Duterte urges Congress to ‘hurry up’ passage of law creating Department of OFWs

President Rodrigo Duterte has urged Congress anew to pass a law creating a department that will address the concerns of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

Addressing the nation from Davao City on Monday night, Duterte asked lawmakers to “hurry up” the passage of the proposed department. He also made this request during his fifth State of the Nation Address in July.

“Itong sa overseas workers, ang ano nito ang rationale, if you may, na wala masyadong focus. Kasi kalaki ng Department of Labor, isa lang ‘yan dito, isang department lang ‘yan,” Duterte said in a taped address aired on Tuesday.

“Dito gawaing isang departamento. Pati itong sa maritime, sa mga seafarers, I might consider an additional agency under this proposal. Overseas kasi eh.”

The House of Representatives in March approved a bill creating a Department of Filipinos Overseas and Foreign Employment.

The proposed law tasks the department 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.

A counterpart bill is still pending in the Senate.

Duterte, meanwhile, asked Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III to help a Filipino who is reportedly stranded in Vietnam.

“I’d like to ask Secretary Bello, if he’s listening, to look into the matter. He has been there for two years,” the President said.

“That is unconscionable. I cannot accept that kind of mistake [by the] government. We should bring him home. No Filipino should be left stranded like a person with no nationality.”

The President had earlier directed the Department of Foreign Affairs to seek out Filipino seafarers who are stranded abroad amid the COVID-19 pandemic. — RSJ, GMA News