Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III clarified on Saturday that a transition committee has the duty of formulating the implementing rules and regulations (IRRs) pertaining to the newly created Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) which has yet to be operational.
The Labor chief issued the clarification following reports that DMW Secretary Abdullah Mama-o has drafted his own IRRs for the DMW, thus creating some confusions among the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), industry players, and stakeholders, as well as pertinent agencies.
The law is clear that the IRR should be crafted by the transition committee, Bello stressed.
Bello directed all officers operating under the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to maintain the status quo, adding that the DMW would not be fully operational until next year.
“Under Section 23 of the law, maliwanag na the Department of Migrant Workers will be fully constituted only after or when there is already an implementing rules and regulations, mayroong budget at mayroong staffing pattern,” Bello said in a televised briefing.
“Hanggang hindi naku-comply iyong tatlo na iyan, iyong DMW is still in a transition period. Hindi pa fully operational,” he noted.
The POEA this week said the committee would release the staffing pattern by June 3. It will also craft the new agency’s budget to be included in the 2023 government spending.
Meanwhile, Bello clarified that the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, the International Labor Affairs Bureau, and the National Reintegration Center for OFWs were still operating under the present setup.
“They are operating under their respective department. Hindi pa sila makakapagtrabaho under DMW, kasi DMW is not yet fully constituted,” he said.
President Duterte has approved the law’s implementing rules and regulations (IRR) crafted by the transition committee this week.
Duterte enacted the DMW charter last December.