Domestic Workers Should Be Top Priority for DMW

With the new Department of Migrant Workers finally having an appointed head in President Marcos’ term, the Department recently opened a one-stop center for OFW repatriation this week.

The transition period is well underway with Susan Ople at its helm, the newly formed DMV is expected to be fully operational by 2023.

It was President Rodrigo Duterte who signed Republic Act 11641 also known as “An Act Creating the Department of Migrant Workers” back in December 2021. The department was made to place all governments related to Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) under one place to be able to respond better to migrants and their family’s needs.

Back then, before the DMV was signed into law, the topic was highly debated among labor and advocacy groups due to the millions of migrants and families possibly being affected.

According to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), OFWs were recorded at 2.18 million back in 2019.

Out of this number, more than half are women. This trend was also consistent back in 2020. The Philippines is known to be a top country known for its human capital and labor export.

With the new DMV still being in its transition period, emphasis and priority should be given to our domestic workers either looking to go abroad or currently abroad. This labor group is often the subject of news headlines and cases as they are left vulnerable to the nature of their jobs; living alone abroad, not being able to speak the local language, and having to deal with their employers whom they live with.

Cases of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse are often heard but this should not be the case. With more than half of OFWs being female and the majority employed in this kind of occupation, the Department of Migrant Workers must give this sector importance and diligence.

Often celebrated as modern-day heroes, total remittances of OFW reached ₱134.77 billion back in 2020.

Source: Rappler, Business World, Philippine Statistics Authority, Manila Times