Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila
NINETEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. _______________
Introduced by ANG PROBINSYANO
Party-List Representative Alfred Delos Santos
EXPLANATORY NOTE
Article
II,
Section
9
of
the
1987
Constitution
mandates
the
“promot[ion] of a just and dynamic social order that” and this entails the
“promot[ion] of full employment.” Thus, in Article XIII, Section 3, the State is
entrusted
with
the
responsibility of “promot[ing] full employment and
equality of employment opportunities for all.” Thus, Republic Act No. 11469
(2020), or the “Bayanihan to Heal as One Act,” in Section 4(v)(4) thereof,
empowers the President to:
(v) Notwithstanding
any
law to the contrary, direct the discontinuance of
appropriated programs, projects or activities (P/A/P) of any agency of the
Executive Department, including government-owned or -controlled corporations
(GOCCs), in the FYs 2019 and 2020 General Appropriations Act (GAA), whether
released or unreleased, the allotments for which remain unobligated, and utilize
the savings generated therefrom to augment the allocation for any item directly
related to support operations and response measures, which are necessary or
beneficial in order to address the COVID-19 emergency, consistent with the
herein declared national policy: Provided, however, That the following items in
the budget shall be prioritized for augmentation:
x x x
(4) Programs of the Department of Labor and Employment, such as but not
limited to Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers
and COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP);
x x x
This has resulted in a program specifically catering to OFWs: the
Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) “provision of financial
assistance to displaced Landbased and Sea-based Filipino workers due to
coronavirus diseases (COVID-19), known as ‘DOLE-AKAP for OFWs’.”1 This
program’s beneficiaries will be given a Php10,00.00 grant.2 Last month, it
was reported that “[n]early 86,000 [OFWs] have been granted the…₱10,000
2 Id.
1
https://www.owwa.gov.ph/index.php/news/central/96-advisory-on-dole-akap-cash-assist
ance
September 19, 2022
4:24 pm
4978


($200) financial assistance.”3 More applicants to this program will be aided,
seeing as the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has since been
reported as working on adding Php1,000,000,000.00 to the DOLE’s AKAP
funds.4
But the AKAP grant is a one-time grant.5 Php10,000.00 is not going to
tide over entire families for whole months, what with the adjusting that all
households will need to go through to adapt to the ‘new normal.’
Fortunately, the DOLE has promised that it shall begin focusing on
“providing livelihood programs to [OFWs] in its post-COVID-19 recovery
plan,” and that such efforts shall cover “those who are already in the
country and those who were stranded because of the pandemic.”6 Labor
Secretary
Silvestro
Bello
III
has,
in
particular,
stressed
that
OFW-beneficiaries will have access to “livelihood assistance for any business
that they will choose to put up to help them recover from the socioeconomic
impact of the global health crisis.”7
Considering that Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo
Año estimates that
around 300,000 OFWs will be “return[ing] to the
country this year,”8 it is crucial that the aid we will be extending to them be
something truly sustainable, for the government, and reliable, for the
beneficiaries. Equally important is (1) making sure that such aid enables
them
to move towards self-sufficiency and (2) making staying in the
Philippines a viable option for them, socially and economically speaking.
Hence, in line with the abovementioned policy, and in response to the
socioeconomic realities thus brought to light, the State, through this Bill,
will set up a comprehensive program to reintegrate OFWs into the local
workforce.
As part of the various measures to be proposed, this Bill aims to: 1)
provide capacity-building trainings for OFWs looking to put up businesses;
2) dedicated financing/loan programs for MSMEs put up by OFWs; and 3)
government
agency
and
government
owned
and
operated
corporation
(GOCC) job fairs for civil-service-qualified OFWs.
It must be noted that these measures are not proposed to dissuade
the operators of private cold storage facilities.
8
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1280494/around-300000-ofws-to-return-to-philippines-ami
d-covid-19-pandemic-dilg#ixzz6O3RUGntR
7 Id.
6 https://www.covid19.gov.ph/dole-to-focus-on-ofw-livelihood-in-post-covid-19-plan/
5
https://www.owwa.gov.ph/index.php/news/central/96-advisory-on-dole-akap-cash-assist
ance
4 https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1102881
3 https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/5/3/DOLE-cash-aid-86K-OFWs-COVID-19.html


It is for the foregoing premises that the approval of this Bill is
earnestly sought.
ALFRED C. DELOS SANTOS
Representative, Ang Probinsyano Party-List


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila
NINETEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. _______________
Introduced by ANG PROBINSYANO
Party-List Representative Alfred Delos Santos
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR
THE REINTEGRATION OF REPATRIATED OFWS INTO THE PHILIPPINE
WORKFORCE AND BUSINESS SECTOR
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the
Philippines in Congress assembled:
SECTION 1. Short Title. – This Act shall be known as the “OFW
Reintegration Act of 2022.”
SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. – The State recognizes its duty to
secure the interests and welfare of all Filipino workers, whether they be
employed locally or abroad. Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) are among
those who have borne the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic and
social repercussions, with many of them losing their foreign employment. As
such, the State acknowledges the necessity of enacting measures to ease
them back into the Philippine workforce and/or business sector, as they
may
so
choose,
with
the
focus
on
putting
them
back
on
track
to
self-sufficiency
in
the
context
of
the
‘new
normal
of
the
per-
and
post-COVID-19 world.
SECTION 3. Applicability. – This Act shall apply to all OFWs who have
been repatriated due to the COVID-19 pandemic, whether they willingly
resigned from their posts abroad or had their employment terminated due to
their employers being adversely affected by the said pandemic.
SECTION 4. Business-Oriented Capacity-Building Training for OFWs. –
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), in coordination with the
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), shall provide training for OFWs
who are seeking to set up their own businesses. The training shall focus on
the following areas:
1) Business conceptualization and the conduct of feasibility studies;
2) Registration
and
all
other
administrative
matters
related
to
creating one’s own business;
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3) Safe and sustainable business financing;
4) Business promotion/advertising/marketing; and
5) Service/product delivery in the context of the ‘new normal.
The training shall also be a means for the OFWs to be assisted in
finding and connecting with mentors in the business sector, particularly
those already established in the specific industry that an OFW would want
to venture into.
Prioritization shall be given to those OFWs with no background in
putting together and running/operating their own businesses, especially
those
who will be going into single proprietorship, with no seasoned
business partners to rely on.
SECTION 5. Dedicated Financing/Loan Programs for OFW-Owned
MSMEs. – The DOLE, in coordination with the Department of Finance (DOF)
and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), shall create new
financing/loan programs that will exclusively cater to OFWs, who are in the
process of setting up their own MSMEs.
Such programs shall strictly be for those OFWs with no existing
MSMEs. OFWs with existing MSMEs shall be accommodated by DTI’s
standing programs.
SECTION 6. Government Job Fairs for Civil Service Qualified OFWs. –
The DOLE, in coordination with the Civil Service Commission (CSC), the
Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the Office of the
Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC), shall have a series of job fairs for possible
employment of civil service qualified OFWs in the national or local government, its
agencies, bureaus, offices, and instrumentalities, including government-owned and
controlled corporations (GOCCs)
SECTION 7. Implementing Rules and Regulations. – The Secretary of
Labor and Employment and the Secretary of Interior and Local Government
shall jointly promulgate the necessary rules and regulations required for the
effective implementation of the provisions of this Act.
In drafting the IRR, the Secretaries shall consult with public and
private stakeholders:
1) The Civil Service Commission (CSC);
2) The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG)
3) The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI);
4) The Department of Finance (DOF);
5) The Department of Budget and Management (DBM);
6) The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA); and
7) The Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC).


SECTION 8. Appropriations – The amount necessary to carry out the
provisions of this Act shall be charged against those authorized in the
current and subsequent General Appropriations Act.
SECTION 9. Separability Clause. – If any provision or part of this Act
is
held invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining provisions or parts
unaffected shall remain in full force and effect.
SECTION
10.
Repealing
Clause.
–
All
laws,
executive
orders,
presidential decrees or issuances, letters of instruction, administrative
orders, rules, and regulations contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions
of this Act are hereby repealed, amended, or modified accordingly.
SECTION 11. Effectivity Clause. – This Act shall take effect fifteen (15)
days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general
circulation.
Approved,