MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law the measure that seeks to create an overseas Filipino workers (OFW) handbook, which will contain the rights and responsibilities of Filipinos working abroad.
Republic Act 11227, or the Handbook for OFWs Act of 2018, was signed on Feb. 22 but Malacañang only released a copy of it on Saturday.
The new law mandates the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to develop, publish, disseminate, and update a handbook that will serve as guide OFWs.
The handbook aims at empowering OFWs by making them aware of their rights and responsibilities, and giving them basic information on the labor and living conditions of the country of their destination, among others.
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), POEA, and the Department of Foreign Affairs were the agencies tasked to promote the welfare and protect the rights of the Filipino workers abroad.
The DOLE was tasked to “see to it that labor and social welfare laws in the foreign countries are fairly applied to migrant workers and whenever applicable, to other overseas Filipinos including the grant of legal assistance and the referral to proper medical centers or hospitals.”
Meanwhile, the POEA will not only to publish and disseminate the handbook but will also update and inform OFWs of their rights as workers and human beings aside from implementing intensified program against illegal recruitment./PN
