Recruitment industry backs new department for OFWs

The recruitment industry is onboard with the next administration in pushing for the establishment of a separate department specializing on overseas Filipino workers (OFW) concerns. However, recruitment industry leaders like Lito Soriano believe that incoming president Rodrigo Duterte must first call for a stakeholders’ meeting to iron out the possible issues arising from the creation of the new department before it is legislated. “I believe it should be first subjected to a stakeholder consultation to see how it could be more effective than the present setup,” said Soriano. “It should include OFWs, who are already retired and this who are still actively working abroad,” he added. He pointed out the lack of legal assistance to Filipino workers abroad as one of the issues that need to be addressed. Under the current system, he said the Department of Foreign Affairs handles criminal cases of OFWs, while the Department of Labor and [...]