Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIV!
Quezon, Cir Metro: Manila

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST REGULAR SESSION

House Bill No._193

BILLS AND NEY SERVICE

‘S-OFW Representative Aniceto R. Bertiz, III

Introduced by AC

EXPLANATORY NOTE,

The contribution of Filipinos overseas to the Philippine economy for the past many
decades has been duly recognized. Based on the data of the Commission on Filipinos
Overseas, the stock estimate of overseas Filipinos, as of December 2013, was 10.4 million
‘The number included permanent residents (4,8M), temporary workers (4.2M), and irregular
migrants (1.3M). The remittances of their hard-eamed money to their families left behind are
plowed back into the economy, thus keeping the Philippine economy afloat.

As its way of recognizing their contribution, the government has adopted policies and
programs to promote their welfare and interest, especially overseas. It has set in place
welfare mechanisms on-site to provide greater protection to them. But it seems that the
existing safety nets are not enough; thus, there is a need for government to enhance these
mechanisms to better service its nationals abroad,

Due to the magnitude in the number of temporary workers or so-called circular
migrants overseas, there is a need for the government (o establish a system whereby the
Philippine government is able to monitor and track their whereabouts at any given time to be
able to provide immediate assistance, especially in emergency situations, There have been
stances in the past that the government was caught off-guard when political crises erupted
in the Middle East, like the war in Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Egypt when
government agencies had difficult time tracing the location of the OFWs deployed in these
countries, There were the natural disasters that struck Japan, Haiti, and Italy, where the aid of
government was slowed down by the inability of the Philippine government to reach them
because of the incomplete registry of Filipino residents and temporary migrants at the
Philippine missions, Even the data bases of the DFA, DOLE, POEA, OWWA and BI, which
gave out different and varying figures, were of little help

During the very critical period, government agencies in charge of providing
assistance (0 the Filipinos trapped in those countries had to air their pleas to register at the
nearest Philippine Embassy or Consulate so they could be assisted and/or rescued. Such
scenario depicted the weakness and readiness of government to respond quickly and
adequately because of the absence of a reliable monitoring system at the worksites,

The series of crises that affected overseas Filipinos and the apparent slow pace in
extending assistance to them had highlighted the need to enhance government's capability in


servicing migrant Filipinos during crises. It is during these times that our people become
vulnerable due to their desire to be evacuated or repatriated at the soonest time to save their
own lives and those of their friends and colleagues.

But the immediate action of government is warranted not only during crises, but at all
times. Philippine missions abroad should be able to connect to its nationals anytime. If the
embassy or consulate receives a distress call from an abused or maltreated OFW, it should be
able to respond readily and come to the succor of the caller.

In order to address this need, the government has to set up an efficient registration and
management system that will capture the location of our OFWs from the time they are
documented by POEA until they enter the country of destination. The monitoring system is
envisioned to enhance the on-site protection of OFWs since it will greatly hasten government
action when needed, Furthermore, an efficient database management system on-site will help
the government craft more responsive policies and programs for our OF Ws.

The passage of this Act is therefore, urgently requested.

- Bertiz 111


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST REGULAR SESSION

House Bill No. _193

Introduced by ACTS-OFW Representative Aniceto R. Bertiz IIT

AN ACT
|HANCING ON-SITE PROTECTION FOR OVERSEAS FILIPINO WORKERS BY
ESTABLISHING A REGISTRATION AND MONITORING SYSTEM
IN ALL FOREIGN POSTS.

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives in Congress assembled:

Section 1. Short Title. — This Act shall be known as the “Overseas Registration and
Monitoring System for Overseas Filipino Workers Act™.

Section 2. Declaration of Policies.

(a) The State shall afford full protection to labor, local and overseas, organized
and unorganized. Towards this end, the State shall provide adequate and timely social,
economic and legal services to Filipino migrant workers

(b) While recognizing the significant contribution of Filipino migrant workers
to the national economy through their foreign exchange remittances, the State does
not promote overseas employment as a means to sustain economic growth and
achieve national development. The existence of the overseas employment program
rests solely on the assurance that the dignity and fundamental human rights and
freedoms of the Filipino citizens shall not, al any time, be compromised or violated.

(0) The State recognizes that an efficient database management system is an
effective tool in the protection of Filipino migrant workers and in the promotion of
their welfare.

Section 3. Registration and Monitoring System. ~ To implement the above declared
policies, there is hereby created the Registration and Monitoring System in each of the
Philippine Missions abroad, hereinafter referred to as the Monitoring System, which shall
facilitate the registration of OFWs in their respective countries of work and which shall be
the repository of vital information about a particular OFW working in a foreign country

‘The Monitoring System shall form part of the database management system on OFWs
of each Mission and shall complement the Shared Government Information System


For Migration as provided in Sec.20 of Republic Act 8042, otherwise known as Migrant
Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995, As Amended.

See. 4, Designated Personnel. - The Head of the Mission shall designate a staff who.
shall be solely responsible for the maintenance of the Monitoring System. ‘The Secretary of
Foreign Affairs and the Secretary of Labor and Employment are authorized to assign
additional personnel to the Mission, if necessary, to help operate and maintain the efficiency
of the Monitoring System

The Head of Mission shall ensure that the integrity and
confidentiality of the database are protected at all times and that the data therein shall be used
only for the purpose of the creation of the Monitoring System,

Sec. 6. Report to the Home Office. - The Head of Mission shall render a report on the
information generated by the System to the Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Secretary of
Labor and Employment every quarter.

See. 7. Report to Congress. ~ tn order to inform the Philippine Congress on the
implementation of this Act, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Department of Labor and
Employment shall submit to the said body an annual joint report on its implementation,
including the data of OFWs gathered for the year

Sec. 8. Appropriation and Other Sources of Funding. — The amount necessary to
carry out the provisions of this Act shall be provided for in the General Appropriations Act of
the year following its enactment into law and the years thereafter.

Sec. 9. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The departments and agencies
charged with carrying out the provisions of this Act shall, within ninety (90) days after the
effectivity of this Act, formulate the necessary rules and regulations for its effective
implementation.

Section 10, Repealing Clause. - All laws, presidential decrees, executive orders, and
rules and regulations, or parts thereof, inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby
repealed or modified accordingly.

Section 11. Separability Clause.
Act is held uncor
affected thereby.

If, for any reason, any section or provision of this
Litutional or invalid, the other sections or provisions hereof shall not be

Section 12. Lffectivity Clause, - This Act shall take effect after Fiften (15) days from
its publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) national newspapers of general
circulation whichever comes first

Approved