Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) will no longer need to secure Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC) for deployment since they will soon be provided with an iDOLE- OFW Identification Card, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said yesterday.
Bello said the iDOLE – OFW ID will serve as the replacement for OEC for enhanced and convenient delivery of government services and program for OFWs.
“Under this program, all bonafide OFWs will be given iDOLE, the ID of the Department of Labor and Employment at no cost to the OFWs. This will serve as the OEC of the OFWs,” Bello said.
The unique iDOLE Card, which is the ‘best gift’ of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to millions of OFWs, will allow them to easily transact with government and private agencies including Pag-IBIG, SSS, and Philhealth.
With the use of iDOLE Card, OFWs can also access their government records electronically without the need to go to concerned government offices.
The ID card can also serve as a debit card and an ATM card for the OFW Bank as well as a beep card for LRT and MRT.
Bello also said that the labor department is trying to adopt a system which will allow iDOLE Card to serve as the electronic passport for the OFWs, which they can use anytime, whether they are going abroad or going back to the Philippines.
“We are trying to adopt a system that this iDOLE can serve as OFWs passport. Kakausapin natin nang maigi ang Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Justice, through the Bureau of Immigration. Para yang iDOLE na yan ay pwede na ring gamitin bilang passport,” Bello said.
Meanwhile, more enhanced and convenient delivery of government services and programs will continue to benefit and ease the lives of OFWs as the OFW Bank will be officially launched in October 2017.
Also, an increasing number of overseas Filipino workers will continue to benefit from a more compact and streamlined frontline services brought by One-Stop Service Center for OFWs (OSSCO) nationwide.
“The President has seen to it that their lives are more comfortable, more secured and their stay abroad are properly attended to. And it has been my policy to prioritize the protection, welfare, and interest of our Bagong Bayani,” Bello said. ###doleph
