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

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 7451

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 “promotlion] of
full employment.” Thus, in Article XIII, Section 3, the State is entrusted with
the responsibility of promoting] 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:

XxX

(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);

XxX

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’.”! This
program’s beneficiaries will be given a Php10,00.00 grant.? Last month, it was
reported that “[nJearly 86,000 [OFWs] have been granted the...P10,000 ($200)
financial assistance.”> 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.*

" https: //www.owwa.gov.ph /index.php/news /central/ 96-advisory-on-dole-akap-cash-
assistance

21d.

3 https://cnnphilippines.com /news/2020/5/3/DOLE-cash-aid-86K-OFWs-COVID-19.htm]

+ https: //www.pna.gov.ph/articles/ 1102881



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.””

Considering that Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Aiio
estimates that around 300,000 OFWs will be “return[ing] to the country this
year,” 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.

It is for the foregoing premises that the approval of this Bill is earnestly
sought.

ALFRED C. S SANTOS
Representative, Ang Probinsyano Party-List

5 https://www.owwa.gov.ph /index.php /news/central /96-advisory-on-dole-alkap-cash-
6 https:/ /www.covid 19.gov.ph /dole-to-focus-on-ofw-livelihood-in-post-covid-19-plan
71d.

® https://newsinfo inquirer net/1280494/around-300000-ofws-to-return-to-philippines-
amid-covid-19-pandemic-dilg#ixzz603RUGntR



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

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

HOUSE BILLNo. 7451

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 2020.”

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 on 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 trainings for OFWs. -
‘The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), in coordination with the
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), shall provide trainings for OFWs who
are seeking to set up their own businesses. The trainings 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;

3) Safe and sustainable business financing;

4) Business promotion/advertising/marketing; and

5) Service/product delivery in the context of the ‘new normal’.


‘The trainings 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 OFWs’ 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 can be sufficiently accommodated in the
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:

a) Job fairs involving government agencies. - Civil service qualified
OFWs may seek employment in government agencies, whether on
the national level, or in the many regional offices; and

b) Job fairs involving government owned and controlled corporations
(GOCCs). - OFWs may also choose to look for vacancies in the
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 (DT!);

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).


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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,