John Paul D.

Gozun

November 11, 2019

Reaction Paper

RE: The Proposal of Establishing a Department for OFW

I can personally relate on this issue because some of my family members are Overseas

Filipino Workers (OFW). My grandparents together with my uncle and aunt lives and works in

Lanchester, United Kingdom. My uncle works as a merchandiser assistant in a shift from 6AM to

2PM while my aunt is a clerical nurse in a private hospital whose shift is graveyard. They have

been there for almost 7 years and they already have 2 daughters who are UK permanent citizens.

Going there was not easy for them. I can still remember the times when they are both applying

for visas. They always wait on a long line in the POEA office and attended a lot of required OFW

seminars. They even had to pay a huge amount of money just to fund their placement fee. In

support for their dreams, my grandmother even had to lease her land properties in our province

just to provide a sufficient money on my aunt’s bank account.

It has been told that UK is not their first option to go to, they tried Singapore first because

it requires a more affordable placement fee and easier to comply working permit requirements.

They pay the whole amount in exchange of the promise of the recruiter of a good salary and

stable job. But after few days, their recruiter did not show up to the scheduled final briefing before

departure. My aunt and uncle tried contacting the office of the recruiter but they said that there

was no contract signed between them and the concerned agency. With this incident, they filed a

report case on DOLE regarding the illegal recruiter but nothing happened as well. That is when

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they tried to apply in UK official and accredited recruiters which are approved by the POEA and

DOLE. Few days later, my aunt and uncle followed the correct process of securing a job abroad.

They took all the tests needed and passed all the necessary requirements and documents again.

And when they got their visas, my uncle went first then my aunt followed after two months. It was

3 years after when they sponsored my grandfather and grandmother who now works as caretaker

of an old house.

That is why when we are tasked to do a reaction paper with this given topic, I immediately

called my aunt to ask for her opinion about this. Because I believe, in order for me to fully grasp

the whole story and know all sides of the issue, I should talk to the direct beneficiaries if ever this

new department will be established. As I talk to my aunt, she gave me three points why the

Department of Overseas Filipinos (DOF) should be passed into law and be implemented as soon

as possible. First, there are a lot of illegal recruiters in the Philippines, where she and my uncle

has been one of the victims of. She said that even POEA or other government agencies like DOLE

cannot even handle or monitor. There are just so many that can tempt the mind of the innocent

aspiring workers especially those who are from the provinces. Second, the cut of the employer to

the worker’s salary is too big which needs to be reviewed and regulated by the government. When

my aunt went to the UK and had her first job as a bagger in a supermarket, the percentage of her

employer was 40% of her total salary. She did not notice it earlier until one of her workmates

discussed it to her. Upon knowing, her first reaction was to report it. She tried going to the

Philippine Embassy but she was advised that cut of her employer depends on the contract she

signed before flying in to UK. There was no special assistance given to her since the priority of

the embassy that time were the abused OFW. Lastly, she said that DOF should be recognized

because the voice of the OFW is not that powerful in the Philippines. It is true that Philippines has

the highest number of workers abroad but their concerns are not properly addressed and heard

by the government. My auntie said that with the use of DOF, their concerns will be properly

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cascaded to the right offices and will be accurately responded. After hearing the story and opinion

of my aunt, I researched the status quo of the OFW nowadays and what are the different agencies

that addresses their concerns and issues.

As of today, there are a total of six department and agencies catering the needs of the

OFW. First is the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) which is responsible

for opening the benefits of the overseas employment program and assigned to monitor and

supervise recruitment agencies in the Philippines. Second is the Department of Labor and

Employment (DOLE) which is the executive department mandated to formulate policies,

implement programs and services, and serve as the policy-coordinating arm of the Executive

Branch in the field of labor and employment. Next is the Overseas Workers Welfare

Administration (OWWA) which protects the interests of Overseas Filipino Workers and their

families, providing social security, cultural services and help with employment, remittances and

legal matters. Fourth is the Bureau of Immigration (BI) which is the immigration regulatory and

control body of the Philippines. Fifth is the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) which is tasked

to protect the rights and promote the welfare of Filipinos overseas and to mobilize them as

partners in national development, to project a positive image of the Philippines, and to increase

international understanding of Philippine culture for mutually-beneficial relations with other

countries. And lastly, the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) which is an agency

responsible for promoting and upholding the interest of Filipino emigrants and Filipino permanent

residents in other countries. It is also responsible for preserving and strengthening ties

with Filipino communities outside the Philippines.

These are the departments who works hand in hand for the betterment of the today ‘s

OFW. But based on the recent speech given by our President Rodrigo Duterte, there are still

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concerns which are not addressed by these departments and agencies that is why there is still a

need to establish a sole department for the OFW. These are the following problems laid by the

President which are also the points given by my aunt; the emergence of fake international

recruitment agencies, presence of unaccredited recruitment agencies, increasing reports about

abusive recruiters who bill heinous charges to their employees and no direct contact for Filipinos

working abroad. The president said that the new department will be implemented this year on the

month of December.

The question now is there a need to establish a new department? I would have to disagree

to my aunt and to President Duterte for I believe there is no need to do such. As stated, before

this paragraph, there are already existing departments and agencies who answers the following

concerns. Like for example, the presence of illegal and fake recruiters, should be regulated

thoroughly by POEA. For increasing number of abusive recruiters, this should be monitored by

DOLE. And for the no contact abroad for the OFW, the development of it should be spearheaded

by DFA or BI. Making a totally new department will just confuse the existing bureaucracy and will

puzzle their current job description and delineation. Aside from this, the number of employees

given to them might also be affected by the establishment of the new agency.

On this matter, our President Duterte should practice phronesis and be a phronetic leader.

A leader who put importance to the existing system and see first the goodness in it. A leader who

search the rooms for improvement before totally revamping it. Changing the current bureaucracy

in a large scale must be his last option because it will require more time and effort on the side of

the government. As the head of the state, he should have called the attention of the heads of the

six existing departments and agencies and laid all the issues at hand and how they can resolve it

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with the remaining means. As what I have said earlier, the problems he said are already part of

their job description and focus.

One approach that can also be used on this issue is the Development Administration

theory on which the government’s projects, programs, policies and ideas are focused for the

development of the nation, with the point of view of socio-economic and socio-political

development of society in general, carried out by talented and skilled bureaucrats. It is said that

we are experiencing problems for the OFW nowadays because the departments and agencies

assigned to them are not skilled enough to address their concerns. With this theory, the status

quo is being rejected and all efforts are directed towards change and more so towards

impactful results that can better the life of our OFW.

This theory is result oriented by its core which means that every development function should

have a defined and clear objectives and purposes. For example, the POEA must focus only on

the OFW recruitment side such as accreditation of recruitment agencies and other matters related

to that while OWWA deals with the OFW personal cases like having an abusive recruiter who

charges heinous salary cuts. With this we can hamper the complications of role duplication and

confusion. It is also included on this theory’s premise the value of planning in order to decide the

framework of resources and time to be allotted for a development function. Now the government

will be able to assess and evaluate if there is really a need to have a police officer assigned on

each Philippine Embassies who will serve as the direct contact for the OFW situated on that

country and who also will serve as the legal guidance for them.

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 Lastly, this theory entails focus on planning for the people as well as with the people. The

government should be people centric and must empower society as a whole. It should not be

product or profit-centered by asking OFW applicants to pay a lot or asking their recruitment

companies to pay permits on a high cost.

To summarize my point on this topic, the government should learn first to improve itself before

expanding to a bigger self. The Philippines or should I say the Filipinos do not need a band aid

solution that will answer concerns in a short period of time and will cost a lot. As what I have

learned so far in my Public Administration classes, the decisions made by the government should

be deliberately thought and examined about.

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References:

Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia (2019, May 5) Philippine Overseas Employment

Administration. [Web log post] Retrieved from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_Overseas_Employment_Administration

Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia (2018, December 19) Overseas Workers Welfare

Administration. [Web log post] Retrieved from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overseas_Workers_Welfare_Administration

Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia (2019, April 16) Department of Labor and Employment. [Web

log post] Retrieved from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_of_Labor_and_Employment_(Philippines)

Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia (2019, July 27) Bureau of Immigration. [Web log post]

Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureau_of_Immigration_(Philippines)

Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia (2019, February 17) Commission on Filipinos Overseas.

[Web log post] Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commission_on_Filipinos_Overseas

Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia (2019, September 23) Department of Foreign Affairs. [Web

log post] Retrieved from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_of_Foreign_Affairs_(Philippines)

Sofia Tomacruz (2019, September 17) Bello now supports creation of new OFW department.

[Web article] Retrieved from https://www.rappler.com/nation/240361-bello-support-creation-new-

ofw-department

Carmel V. Abao (2019, October 14) “A separate department for OFWs: Should we?”. [Web article]

Retrieved from https://www.bworldonline.com/a-separate-department-for-ofws-should-we