By Katrina Gracia Consebido
Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Secretary Susan Ople announced that it will conduct its first strategic planning workshop with all labor attaches on Dec. 12 to 15 in Tagaytay City.
According to Ople, the first strategic planning workshop titled “We A.C.T. As One” will also feature “resource persons on global security concerns, digitization efforts and maritime affairs.”
DMW Undersecretary Maria Anthonette Velasco-Allones said “A.C.T.” stands for “Alignment, Connection and Transition to Transformation.”
“The workshop will lead to the formulation of the DMW’s strategy map with very clear indicators for performance, professionalism and policy implementation,” Allones said.
The DMW was established by law on Dec. 27, 2021 and will have its 2023 budget once the General Appropriations Act of 2023 is signed into law by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.
The signing of the GAA will signal the full constitution of the new department and would lead to the transformation of the current Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (POLOs) into Migrant Workers Offices (MWOs).
The Senate has approved a P16.323-billion budget for the new department last Nov. 11.
“The legal assistance aspect of the DFA’s work will now be transferred to the DMW once the budget is approved and at the onset of 2023,” Ople said.
“We are in discussions with the DFA on how best to carry out this transition since our attaches abroad would also require some training on how to render legal assistance in partnership with law enforcement agencies in countries with a high concentration of OFWs,” she added.
The DMW chief also noted the importance of massive information dissemination of its programs and services that will benefit many overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their families starting in 2023.
“A lot of our OFWs don’t even know that the DMW now exists, where and how can we be reached, as well as the services that we offer,” she added.
“The DMW needs to make sure that such basic information can be delivered in the most effective and efficient way,” she continued.
Ople said the strategic planning will be able to unite the different government agencies with one goal to “make sure that the DMW is the best home in government” for OFWs and their families.
“We have so much to do because our transition into a fully constituted department is a continuing effort in collaboration with various departments, notably DOLE [Department of Labor and Employment] and the DFA [Department of Foreign Affairs],” Ople said. -ag
