THE Department of Labor and Employment said on Tuesday it would replace the overseas employment certificates for overseas Filipino workers with a government IDs which would also serve as their license to go abroad and come back.
“The department will launch the new ID—named i-DoLE next week,” Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said, adding “the bona fide OFWs need not apply for the ID and will be issued free for OFWs.”
“If you’re an OFW, there’s no need to apply because you are already in the roster, so an ID will be made for you and then they will send it to you. You will be asked if you want it sent to your workplace or your residence,” he said.
The new ID will serve as the OFWs’ OECs and they need no longer go to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration every time they leave and return home, he said.
“All they have to do is show their ID and this will serve as their license to go abroad and come back here,” he said.
OFWs are required to get OECs from the POEA before they are allowed to leave the country.
“With an OEC or the new ID, the OFW will not be required to pay a travel tax or the terminal fee at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
“This is the best gift of our President to OFWs. The President has seen to it their life is more comfortable and more secure,” Bello said.
The Labor chief also said the new ID can be used for their Social Security System, Pag-Ibig (Home Development Mutual Fund), and PhilHealth transactions.
The department will conduct an inventory of the list of legitimate OFWs to determine who should get an i-DoLE and where to send it to.
“The OFW will just have to wait and he will be given an ID. If he’s abroad, the labor attache could give the ID,” he added.