Bong Go

Bong Go: Bangayan isantabi, kapakanan ng OFWs unahin

May 3, 2022 People's Journal 379 views

SENATOR Christopher “Bong” Go, author and co-sponsor of Republic Act 11641 or the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Act, has made a strong appeal to the members of the DMW Transition Committee to settle internal conflicts and remain true to their mandated duty of protecting and promoting the welfare of the Filipino migrant workers.

“Bilang isang Senador at isa sa mga nagpagod na maisabatas at maisakatuparan ang pangarap ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte at ng mga OFWs natin na magkaroon ng sariling departamentong mangangalaga sa kanila, umaapela ako sa mga bumubuo ng DMW Transition Committee na isantabi ang anumang bangayan, ayusin ang hindi pagkakaintindihan at unahin ang kapakanan ng ating OFWs at ng kanilang mga pamilya,” stressed Go in a statement issued on Labor Day, May 1.

The senator’s appeal came following the disagreement between DMW Secretary Abdullah Mama-o and Department of Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre Bello III over which department has the standing authority to impose and/or lift the ban on the deployment of Filipino workers abroad.

Lamenting that it is the Filipino migrant workers who ultimately suffer amid the discord, Go resolved, “Kung ano ang nakasaad sa batas, yun ang sundin. Kung may hindi pagkakaintindihan, may panahon at proseso naman upang klaruhin ang mga ito. Ang importante rito ay hindi masayang ang layunin ng pagtatatag ng DMW.”

“A day wasted squabbling among ourselves about the finer provisions of the law is a day lost serving our people who have to leave their families behind and work in far-away lands just to give them a brighter future,” he underscored.

The senator has early on urged the government precisely to ensure that there will be no disruption in the delivery of services to Filipino migrant workers as the functions, assets and funds of agencies in charge of Overseas Filipino Worker-related matters are gradually absorbed by the DMW under a two-year transition period currently being led by the Transition Committee.

The Committee is composed of the DMW Secretary, the Undersecretary for the Office of Migrant Workers Affairs under the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Administrator of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and the Directors of the International Labor Affairs Bureau and the National Maritime Polytechnic under DOLE, the Director of the National Reintegration Center for OFWs under the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, and the Director of the Office of the Social Welfare Attaché under the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

From the start, Go has been adamant on providing better government services for the country’s modern-day heroes. Thus, one of the first measures he passed was Senate Bill No. 2234, which is the Senate version of the DMW Act. It is a consolidated version of an earlier bill he introduced to establish the Department of Overseas Filipino Workers.

“Talagang ipinaglaban natin ito. Regalo natin ito sa mga (migrant workers) na nagsasakripisyo. Malaki ang ambag sa ating bayan ng modern heroes natin,” Go remarked in previous interviews.

The DMW will operate as a one-stop shop for both documented and undocumented OFWs, rendering government services from pre-employment to employment and reintegration.

The DMW is also responsible for regulating private recruiting firms in order to safeguard the safety of migrant workers.

Go likewise led the groundbreaking ceremony of the country’s first OFW Hospital in San Fernando City, Pampanga back in 2020. As the hospital is set to start its operations as a polyclinic on May 2 this year, with full operations expected by the end of June, Go joined President Duterte in the personal inspection of the hospital on May 1.

The OFW Hospital is a six-story facility with a 100-bed capacity that will mainly serve OFWs and their qualified dependents.

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