DOJ: DMW responsible for protecting OFWs deployed by LGUs

Local government units (LGUs) can send workers abroad under sisterhood agreements with foreign counterparts but their protection remains under the jurisdiction of the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

In a legal opinion dated February 8, 2024, the DOJ pointed out that the DMW is mandated by law to protect the welfare of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

“While LGUs may be the primary actor when it comes to sisterhood agreements, we believe that national government agencies altogether play a very significant role in the protection and promotion of the welfare of the workers covered under the program,” the DOJ said.

“In particular, with respect to the deployment of Filipino workers for employment abroad, it is the DMW, which has jurisdiction over the same, pursuant to Republic Act 8042 (Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995), as amended by RA 10022,” it added.

Section 35 of Republic Act 7160, also known as the Local Government Code of 1991, grants “LGUs the authority to enter into joint ventures with people’s and non-governmental organizations to engage in the delivery of certain basic services including livelihood projects.”

The DOJ issued the legal opinion in response to concerns raised by the Presidential Management Staff (PMS) regarding sisterhood agreements with South Korean cities involving the deployment seasonal workers in agriculture and fisheries.

According to the DOJ, “several problems have surfaced involving the deployed Filipino workers, such as non-payment or reduction of their agreed wages; bad working conditions; maltreatment; physical and verbal abuse by their employers, which even led to death in some cases.”

To address such problems, the DMW has proposed the execution of a joint circular between it, the DOJ, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Agriculture, the the Bureau of Immigration.

The joint circular is expected to lay down the guidelines on the policies and commitment of each department in relation to the seasonal workers program of South Korea.

The legal opinion was signed by DOJ Undersecretary Raul T. Vasquez and addressed to PMS Senior Undersecretary Elaine Masukat. —KBK, GMA Integrated News