AT the ground floor of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration compound in Mandaluyong City, as many as 2,000 to 3,000 overseas Filipino workers can be serviced by a so-called one-stop shop. Operations began Monday, Aug. 15.
At least 14 government agencies providing services relevant to migrants’ needs are there. Among these are the Department of Foreign Affairs, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Professional Regulation Commission, Maritime Industry Authority, Home Development Mutual Fund, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, Social Security System, Philippine Statistics Authority, Bureau of Immigration, National Bureau of Investigation, Commission on Higher Education, Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority and the POEA.
The center is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday. A similar setup will be followed in regional offices of the Department of Labor and Employment.
This is in response to President Rodrigo Duterte’s call for public agencies to improve their front-office operations to serve the people better. And indeed if there is one segment of the population in dire need of decent government services, it would be our migrant workers.
There is no dearth of horror stories about their having to go from one office to another and back again for their documents. They waste precious money on transport fare and even more precious time and energy when they should be resting or spending time with their families.
It is hardly likely that our OFWs willingly explored opportunities outside the country for the sake of going abroad. Chances are, they tried to find gainful employment with adequate earnings here—and failed. It is not for lack of ability or effort that they finally decided to make the sacrifice of working in a foreign land to improve their lot.
For many years, the government has given our OFWs ample recognition, citing their contributions to the economy in terms of dollar reserves and the personal consumption and investments that they boost. Their poignant stories of loss, risk, and sacrifice have also been highlighted. Anything for the family—so goes the narrative.
The recognition has not been matched by action to provide them better options. Attempts have been, at best, only halfway successful. Poverty and inequality here at home have in fact worsened, prompting more to go away—and stay away.
This new administration promises a lot. While we await for the promises to materialize —if they will—the government can at the very least refrain from compounding the hassles and inconveniences for our migrant workers. These small things count for a lot. Small things like this one-stop shop.
We have yet to see whether it achieves its purpose and points to better things in store for the migrants, or whether it would become just another thoughtful idea, novel at first but unsustained and useless in the long run.