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

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST REGULAR SESSION

House Bit No, 1435

Introduced by Representative Luis Jose Angel N. Campos, Jr.

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
(13M). The remittances of their hard-earned 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 to 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
instances 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 to
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 OFWs.

The passage of this Act is therefore, urgently requested

ood
IS IE ANGEL N. C.


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

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS:
FIRST REGULAR SESSION

House Bill No. 2435

Introduced by Representative Luis Jose Angel N. Campos, Jr.

AN ACT
ENHANCING 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, at any time, be compromised or violated.

(c) 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.

Sec. 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.


Sec. 5. Confdentiality. - 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.

Sec. 7. Report to Congress. — In 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. — If, for any reason, any section or provision of this Act
is held unconstitutional or invalid, the other sections or provisions hereof shall not be affected
thereby.

Section 12. Effectivity 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