Bill to Provide Welfare Assistance to Families of OFWs Proposed

A bill that aims to provide assistance to families of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) has been promoted in the Senate.

This comes as Senate Bill No. 1527, or the Left-Behind Household of Migrant Workers Act was filed by Senator Mark Villar, citing OFWs children being deprived of parental care, and noting that the development of a child is negatively affected in the absence of a father, a mother, or both parents.

According to a study entitled “The health status and related interventions for children left behind due to parental migration in the Philippines: A scoping review” by Georgia B. Dominguez and Brian J. Hall, it was noted that “left behind children experience a vast range of poor physical (general health, hygiene, illness, and nutrition) and mental (behavioral, cognitive, and emotional) health outcomes.”

Villar said in his explanatory note that separation from parents is causing psychological challenges for children.

“Although migrant workers fulfill the basic needs of the family, especially food and financial security, the psychological needs of belongingness and intimacy were fully challenged because of physical separation,” Villar said.

Moreover, the bill also seeks to put up “Migrant Workers Family Centers” in strategic locations in every city or municipality having a large population of OFWs, along with the provision of welfare assistance and counseling services to families of OFWs.

The Migrant Workers Family Centers are also to serve as coordinating offices for partnerships with non-government organizations that focus on migrant workers.

The new Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) will be tasked to spearhead the program and the establishment of the said family centers. (GFB)