By Wilnard Bacelonia
MANILA – Senate Committee on Finance chairperson Sen. Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian on Monday commended the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) for its swift and innovative action in addressing the plight of distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), particularly in the Middle East.
During the 2026 budget hearing of the DMW and the Commission on Filipinos Overseas, Gatchalian cited a sharp decline in the number of OFWs seeking shelter and assistance abroad.
“I want to congratulate the Department of Migrant Workers because during my first term as senator, when I visited our embassies in the Middle East, there were about 500 to 600 distressed OFWs in halfway houses in Dubai, Saudi Arabia, and other parts of the region. But when I returned during my second term, the number had gone down to only around 20 to 50, depending on the location. That’s about a 90 percent reduction in distressed OFWs,” he said.
DMW Undersecretary Dominique Tutay confirmed the positive trend, noting that the number of distressed OFWs in Riyadh has decreased from 500 to 200, in Qatar from 300 to 20, and in Jeddah from 300 to 200.
She said the department continues to strengthen its assistance and repatriation programs to further reduce these numbers.
Gatchalian also expressed support for increasing the department’s legal assistance budget to ensure that more OFWs receive proper representation abroad.
DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said the agency plans to expand both its in-house and contracted legal services, aiming to double its current capacity.
“Yun din po sana yung kukunin namin sa action fund at yun din yung tinumbok ni Senator [Rodante] Marcoleta kanina. It would help kung madagdagan pa po itong pondo para mas marami tayong lawyers. So kung ako po ang tatanungin, itong law firms stand to be increased about 50 percent and 100 percent dun naman sa in-house (That’s what we plan to fund through the action fund, as Senator Marcoleta also mentioned. It would help if the budget is increased so we could hire more lawyers. If I were to recommend, law firms should be increased by around 50 percent, and in-house lawyers by 100 percent),” he said.
When asked by Gatchalian if the proposed increase was already covered under the 2026 budget, Cacdac replied: “Yun nga pong nabanggit kanina 2.4 po ang hinihingi naming but 1.2 lang ang binigay. So, we’re asking for an increase po.” (As mentioned earlier, we requested PHP2.4 billion but were only given PHP1.2 billion. So we are asking for an increase).
Gatchalian said the Senate is supporting a proposal to hire additional lawyers to give legal support to the OFWS.
“So, paki-submit na lang sa amin yung request for additional fund, particularly on the lawyers kasi nakita natin kapag may nakatutok na abogado, natututukan yung kaso, naipapanalo yung kaso eh (please submit to us your request for additional funds, particularly for lawyers, because we’ve seen that when a lawyer handles a case, it gets attention, it gets won),” he said.
Created in 2022, the DMW has implemented a series of reforms to provide comprehensive protection for OFWs, including enhanced coordination with foreign posts, expanded repatriation programs and legal assistance for workers in distress. (PNA)
