President Rodrigo Duterte has announced the creation of a government agency that will attend solely to the concerns of Filipino migrant workers.
President Duterte made the announcement during his meeting with the Filipino community in Manama, Bahrain Friday night (early Saturday morning, Manila time).
“… (You) overseas (Filipino workers) in a few months will have a department of OFW only,” the President said in his speech amid applause from thousands of Filipinos who attended the meeting held at the Khalifa Sports Stadium.
According to President Duterte, through this new department, the processing time for the deployment of OFWs will be reduced from six weeks to three weeks.
“You can go online if you want to look for an employment overseas,” he said. “You just check the list available, choose, then you apply online. You (don’t) have to go through fake employment agencies, you can go direct. And then they (the department) will take care of the rest for your convenience.”
The President said the government of Bahrain has offered to help and make it easy for OFWs to get employed.
“I think the spirit or the heart of Bahrain is with you,” he said. “What I want you to avoid are those fly-by-night employment agencies who ask for exorbitant fees.”
Likewise, President Duterte said OFWs who return home for their vacation, especially during Christmas, will no longer have their baggage inspected by airport authorities.
He pointed out that the baggage of local government officials is not inspected at airports. Such privilege should also be accorded to OFWs.
“You are not just heroes,” said President Duterte. “Our gross national product, good parts of it, actually your remittances…are keeping our economy alive. A good part of the money of our economy comes from you.”
President Duterte also said Immigration officials are no longer allowed to detain OFWs or (to) ask them more than the usual questions.
“I already restricted that,” he said. “If they persist in opening your baggage, you tell them: ‘No, do not open my baggage. Just make sure that you will find something illegal in my belongings or I will slap your face.’ You create a scene, because I will know about the incident. Once I do, let us just see what will happen.”
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