Philippine workers need jobs, not another migrant agency, critics say
- Authorities say the new department will simplify and enhance services for migrants overseas, but experts and workers fear increased bureaucracy
- Instead, they urge the government to create jobs in the Philippines and launch more support programmes for migrants returning to the country
A new Philippine government agency tasked to handle issues related to overseas Filipino workers is likely to bring more bureaucracy and confusion, migrant workers and specialists say, while others fear it may further increase the country’s reliance on exporting labour instead of creating jobs domestically.
There were an estimated 2.2 million Filipinos abroad, according to figures released by the Philippine Statistics Authority in 2020. Overseas workers have been essential for the country’s economy, contributing over US$31.59 billion last year alone.
A bill establishing the Department of Migrant Workers was signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte in December. The new agency – expected to start operating next year – is meant to handle all issues related to overseas workers, which are currently under different government departments.
The move is a fulfilment of Duterte’s presidential campaign in 2016, when he pledged to consolidate all relevant agencies into one, streamlining government services and assistance for migrant workers.
“[Overseas Filipinos] suffered not only yesterday but they are still suffering now with so many inadequacies, in both our government response including the monetary assistance,” Duterte said in his final State of the Nation Address in July. The aim is “to ensure that there is a department that is solely focused on addressing the needs and taking care of the welfare of our countrymen abroad”, he said.
But many workers and specialists are receiving the news with apprehension.
This new department will just make the process of emigration more complicated than it already is
Dolores Balladares-Pelaez, chairwoman of the rights groups United Filipinos In Hong Kong, is convinced the new agency will bring no positive changes.
