DMW Secretary Susan “Toots” Ople said Friday, Dec. 30, 2022, that the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. not only helped 766,290 Filipinos find jobs abroad but also provided scholarships to their children in the Philippines.
Ople made the remarks during an event at the Malacañan Palace Grounds held on the first anniversary of the signing of Republic Act (RA) 11641, or the Department of Migrant Workers Act that created the DMW, the Office of the Press Secretary said.
Ople said the DMW also assisted in the repatriation of 6,341 distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFW), as it continues to provide livelihood assistance and scholarships to the OFWs’ families.
As of November 2022, Owwa, now an attached agency of the DMW, had 16,000 scholars, she said.
The DMW is the executive department of the Philippine government tasked to protect the rights and promote the welfare of OFWs. It was created by virtue of RA 11641, which was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on Dec. 30, 2021.
RA 11641 took effect on Feb. 3, 2022, assuming and performing all the powers and functions of seven merged agencies: the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs of the Department of Foreign Affairs, the International Labor Affairs Bureau as well as all Philippine Overseas Labor Offices or Polo under the Department of Labor and Employment, the National Maritime Polytechnic, the National Reintegration Center for OFWs under the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (Owwa) and the Office of the Social Welfare Attaché under the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
Ople announced that the DMW itself will go on a hiring spree in 2023 because it has 1,000 positions to fill, including positions for the 16 regional offices and four additional overseas labor posts or Migrant Workers Offices that it will open.
The newly created agency has a budget of P15.871 billion for 2023.
Ople also reported that the first OFW hospital in the country, which is located in Mabalacat, Pampanga Province, now benefits OFWs and their families.
The state-of-the-art 100-bed medical facility provides free medical and dental care to OFWs and their families, according to the Owwa.
Built by the Duterte administration, the hospital partially opened on May 2, 2022, then began full operations in June.