BINALAAN ni Pangulong Rodrigo Roa Duterte ang mga “stupid” o “tanga” na manggagawa sa pamahalaan na putulin na ang bureaucratic red tape para mas mapabilis ang pagbibigay ng tulong sa migrant workers.

Sinabi ng Pangulo na hindi siya mag-aatubili na sibakin ang government personnel para sa kanilang “inefficiency ” o kawalan ng kaalaman.

Dismayado kasi ang Pangulo sa patuloy at palagiang pagkakaantala sa government transactions na labis na nakaaapekto sa OFWs.

“Lahat ng opisina na kailangan or who may have to intervene in the papers of migrant workers, kailangan nandoon sila,” ayon sa Pangulo sabay sabing “Sundin niyo because I still have – maybe I will… I am on my way out. Dadalhin ko kayo paglabas ko ng gobyerno kayong mga p***** i** niyo. Either you follow what I want. It’s not yours. It’s mine, it’s my call. It’s the executive department and I am the head of that department.”

Disyembre 31, 2021, nilagdaan ni Pangulong Duterte ang Republic Act 11641 o “An Act Creating the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) to improve coordination among agencies concerned with OFWs.”

Sakop ng bagong departamento ang documented at undocumented OFWs at magsisilbi bilang one-stop shop mula sa pre-employment, employment sa reintegration.

Sa ilalim ng RA 11641, “there would be a one-year transition period before the seven existing offices in OFWs would be brought under DMW to avoid any disruption in services.”

Ang mga ahensiya na kabilang ayon sa ulat ay ang Department of Affairs’ Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs, International Labor Affairs Bureau, National Reintegration Center for OFWs, National Maritime Polytechnic, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, Office of the Social Welfare Attache, at ang lahat ng Philippine Overseas Labor Offices.

Samantala, ipinag-utos din ni Pangulong Duterte ang pagmo-monitor sa “culture of brutality” sa mga bansang Middle East at Afghanistan upang tiyakin na protektado ang mga OFWs.

Aniya, titingnan ng pamahalaan “whatever concerns there are in the life of a migrant worker.”

“We also continue to support our OFWs who are now facing unfathomable difficulties in areas such as Ukraine, the Middle East, and Afghanistan, among others,” ayon sa Pangulo sabay sabing “Wala masyado ako sa Ukraine. Wala naman tayong nababalitaan. ‘Yung  Middle East, Afghanistan, among others, take a closer look. It has nothing to do with the region. It’s the culture of brutality in this area.” (CHRISTIAN DALE)