Declared purpose and policy commitments
- The State has the duty to protect the rights and promote the welfare of Overseas Filipino Workers and their families by ensuring professional, legal and ethical standards in private recruitment.
- The State is required to obtain the best possible conditions of work that uphold the dignity of Overseas Filipino Workers.
- The State must provide timely and responsive services to address needs of Overseas Filipino Workers regardless of legal status.
- The State must ensure Overseas Filipino Workers’ participation in the formulation of policies affecting their welfare.
- The State must provide mechanisms for skills development and reintegration.
- The State commits to progressively align programs and policies toward the fulfillment of the twenty-three (23) objectives of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM).
- The State must not promote overseas employment as a means to economic growth and national development, and must aim to make overseas employment a choice and not a necessity.
- The State must institute measures that strengthen the domestic labor market to support effective reintegration of Overseas Filipino Workers.
Key definitions used in the Rules
- Accreditation means the Department’s grant of authority to a foreign principal/employer to recruit and hire Filipino workers through specified channels, including pathways authorized by the Secretary.
- ASKYON Fund refers to the fund created under Section 14 of the Act to provide legal, medical, financial, and other forms of assistance to Overseas Filipino Workers, including repatriation, shipment of remains, evacuation, rescue, and analogous help to protect rights and welfare.
- Conciliation/Mediation are mandatory alternative dispute resolution mechanisms used by the Department to facilitate settlements of labor and employment issues.
- Data Sharing is the disclosure or transfer of personal data under custody of a personal information controller or processor, subject to the rule that processor disclosures must be upon controller instructions; it excludes certain outsourcing and voluntary disclosures by the data owner.
- Department refers to the Department of Migrant Workers.
- Direct Hires are workers directly hired by employers for overseas employment as authorized by the Secretary and processed by the Department, including hiring by international organizations, members of the diplomatic corps, and name hires without assistance of an agency.
- Documented OFW is an OFW with a valid passport and appropriate visa/permit and whose employment contract has been processed by the Department.
- Disciplinary Action is a case filed against migrant workers or foreign principals/employers for violations of laws, rules, regulations, and pertinent overseas employment issuances.
- E-Registration is the online registration system of Overseas Filipino Workers.
- Ethical recruitment is lawful hiring in a fair and transparent manner respecting and protecting dignity and human rights.
- Government to Government Arrangement is an agreement by the Philippines with another country to service requirements of trained and competent Filipino workers of foreign governments and their instrumentalities and other employers as public interest may require.
- Interconnected Sector covers sectors not defined as purely land-based or sea-based or whose job sites are not identifiable as such, including specified emerging employment involving mixed land-based and sea-based locations.
- Overseas employment means employment outside the Philippines.
- Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) means a Filipino engaged or to be engaged in remuneration activity abroad with proper entry documents, who is not a permanent resident or awaiting naturalization, regardless of land-based, sea-based, or interconnected status, and includes “Overseas Contract Workers” and persons contracted for overseas employment even before departure; it is synonymous with “Migrant Worker.”
- OFW clearance is a document issued by the Department attesting to regularity of recruitment, documentation, and registration that makes the OFW eligible to clear immigration controls and avail of OFW privileges.
- OFW Welfare Monitoring System (OWMS) is a web-based system used by recruitment and manning agencies for reporting the status and condition of deployed OFWs.
- Principal is an employer or foreign placement agency hiring or engaging Filipino workers for overseas employment through a licensed recruitment/manning agency, or through the government.
- Processing and Documentation is evaluation of documentary requirements and issuance of an OFW clearance as the outcome.
- Rescue is a special operation by the MWO to bring an OFW away from danger and assist the OFW whose life is in jeopardy based on reasonable verification, pursuant to host country laws, coordinated with host government authorities and the Foreign Service Post.
- Repatriation is bringing back distressed OFWs, human remains, and transport of personal effects; emergency repatriation occurs during political unrest or natural calamities.
- Seafarer is an OFW engaged on board a merchant marine vessel plying international waters or similar sea-based craft, and includes specified categories such as fishers on commercial fishing vessels on international waters, cruise ship personnel, yacht crew, and persons serving on mobile offshore and drilling units in high seas.
- Secretary refers to the Secretary of the Department of Migrant Workers.
- MWRC refers to the Migrant Workers Resource Center.
Consolidation and mandate of the Department
- The Department is constituted by consolidating and merging: POEA (recognized under Executive Order No. 247, s. 1987 as amended), the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs (QUMWA) under Republic Act No. 8042 as amended, all Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (POLO) under DOLE, ILAB under DOLE, NCRO under OWWA, NMP created under Presidential Decree No. 1369, and OSWA under DSWD.
- The Department is organized structurally and functionally in accordance with Republic Act No. 11641.
- The Department absorbs all powers, functions, and mandates of the POEA and the entities enumerated in Section 19 of the Act.
- The Department is the primary agency under the Executive Branch tasked to protect rights and promote welfare of OFWs regardless of status and of the means of entry into the country of destination.
- The Department formulates, plans, coordinates, promotes, administers, and implements policies and systems for regulating, managing, and monitoring overseas employment and reintegration, while taking into consideration national development programs of NEDA.
- The Department promotes empowerment and protection by empowering and training Filipinos working overseas and ensuring access to continuous training and knowledge development.
- The Department must protect families of OFWs and support partnership-building with DFA and relevant government agencies for implementation and monitoring in foreign countries.
Powers and adjudicatory authority
- The Department shall formulate and implement national policies, plans, programs, and guidelines ensuring protection of OFWs and safe, orderly and regular migration, including timely resolution of problems and effective reintegration.
- The Department shall regulate recruitment, employment, and deployment of OFWs.
- The Department shall investigate, initiate, sue, pursue, and help prosecute illegal recruitment and human trafficking cases in cooperation with DOJ and IACAT, covering cases defined under Republic Act No. 8042 as amended, Republic Act No. 10022, Republic Act No. 9208 as amended by Republic Act No. 10364, and other existing laws and issuances.
- The Secretary and authorized deputies are empowered to issue subpoenas or subpoenas duces tecum, hold or cite persons in contempt as provided by the implementing rules and regulations, administer oaths, and have access to all public records and records of private parties in accordance with law.
- The Department shall require private recruitment and manning agencies to provide comprehensive insurance to deployed OFWs in accordance with law, and require substantially similar benefits for OFWs deployed through other arrangements.
- The Department shall create and maintain a 24/7 Emergency Response and Action Center Unit and a media and social media monitoring center for emergency needs of OFWs and families.
- The Department must mandatorily conciliate/mediate any complaint involving an Overseas Filipino Worker, licensed recruitment agency, or principal/employer relating to overseas employment.
- The Department must formulate policies, plans/programs, mechanisms, and set standards and procedures to strengthen conciliation and mediation as dispute settlement for overseas employment complaints.
- The Department shall exercise original and exclusive and appellate jurisdiction to hear and decide all cases administrative in character involving or arising out of:
- Violation of recruitment rules and regulations, including refund of fees collected from Overseas Filipino Workers and violations of conditions for issuance of licenses to recruit OFWs; and
- Disciplinary action cases administrative in character, excluding money claims.
- In its adjudicatory functions, including appellate jurisdiction, the Department shall formulate its own rules and procedures governing proceedings before Overseas Employment Adjudications (OEAs), Regional Directors, and the Office of the Secretary.
- The Department must create a system for blacklisting persons, natural or juridical, including local and foreign recruitment agencies, their agents, and employers involved in trafficking as defined in Section 16(h), second paragraph of Republic Act No. 9208, as amended, maintain and update a shared database of blacklisted persons within Department agencies and with IACAT, and establish a monitoring system for trafficking and illegal recruitment cases.
- The Department may deploy workers primarily on government-to-government arrangements, and shall deploy to countries where the Philippines has concluded bilateral agreements or arrangements, provided such countries guarantee protection of rights of Filipino migrant workers and comply with international laws and standards for migrant workers.
- The Department must foster professionalization and ethical recruitment practices and enforce legal and ethical standards, training, and capacity building for private recruitment and manning agencies.
Office leadership: appointment and conflict rules
- The Secretary is appointed by the President, subject to confirmation by the Commission on Appointments, and Undersecretaries and Assistant Secretaries are appointed by the President upon the Secretary’s recommendation.
- No person shall be appointed as Secretary, Undersecretary, or Assistant Secretary unless the person is:
- a citizen and resident of the Philippines,
- of good moral character,
- of proven integrity and competence in public administration, and
- has recognized expertise in governance involving and/or experience as OFWs.
- No person involved in the business of recruitment and deployment of OFWs shall be appointed as Secretary, Undersecretary, or Assistant Secretary.
- The prohibition also applies to relatives up to the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity of persons involved in recruitment and deployment of OFWs.
- It is unlawful for any Department official or employee, or any other government agency involved in implementing the Act, or their relatives within the fourth degree, to engage directly or indirectly in recruitment and placement of OFWs.
- Upon conviction, penalties under Republic Act No. 8042, as amended, shall be imposed on prohibited officials and employees and/or relatives.
Organizational structure and regional implementation
- The Department determines its organizational structure and creates new divisions or units as necessary at national, overseas, regional, provincial, and other levels, and appoints officers and employees in accordance with civil service laws.
- Republic Act No. 6656 governs the organization of the Department and reorganization of affected agencies.
- The Department consists of the Department Proper, including the Office of the Secretary, offices of Undersecretaries and Assistant Secretaries, service units/divisions, bureaus, regional offices, and overseas offices called Migrant Workers Office (MWO).
- Department personnel categories include:
- Migran Workers Service Officers (MWSO),
- Migrant Workers Service Staff Officers (MWSSO), and
- Migrant Workers Service Staff Employees (MWSSE),
with class rankings I, II, and III from highest to lowest.
- The Secretary is assisted by no more than four (4) Undersecretaries and Assistant Secretaries, and has authority to transfer, delineate, reassign, or reorganize functional areas among offices.
- For initial implementation, the Department structure includes designated units such as the Office of Legal Service, internal audit, land-based and sea-based OFW concerns, training institute, legislative liaison, advisory board secretariat, finance and administration, planning/training/communications/one-stop services, pre-employment and welfare/employment/national reintegration offices, licensing and adjudication units, anti-illegal recruitment/port assistance/coordination unit, and policy/international cooperation units.
Regional offices and one-stop centers
- The Department establishes, operates, and maintains regional and provincial/field offices as necessary in administrative regions.
- Existing POEA offices in the regions are absorbed and constituted as DMW Regional Offices.
- Within one (1) year from implementation of the Act, there must be at least one (1) regional office in each of the existing regional centers.
- Each regional office must have an Overseas Employment Adjudicator handling pre-employment or recruitment violation cases.
- Each Regional Office is headed by a Regional Director assisted by an Assistant Regional Director, appointed by the President upon recommendation of the Secretary.
- The Regional Director exercises administrative control and supervision, and represents the Department in local interagency bodies or committees related to migrant workers and overseas employment concerns.
- Regional Offices perform functions including:
- Accreditation functions (Foreign Employers, Job Orders Accreditation),
- facilitating OFW documentation,
- assisting pre-qualification of government to government hired applicants,
- providing legal assistance and anti-illegal recruitment and trafficking in persons services,
- conducting conciliation/mediation conferences,
- adjudicating pre-employment/recruitment and disciplinary action cases,
- assisting onsite workers and assisting OFW repatriation (including remains and personal effects),
- providing reintegration assistance,
- conducting inspections on Philippine recruitment and/or manning agencies for compliance,
- issuing Department Clearance/Validation at international locations and airports for departure, and
- facilitating updating/editing of OFW data through helpdesk and e-registration systems.
- The Department’s regional/provincial/field offices serve as one-stop shop centers in coordination with relevant government offices to facilitate prompt and efficient access to services for OFWs and families.
- One-stop shop centers serve as venues for acquiring government clearances and permits, validating overseas job offers, availing reintegration services, and attending seminars and workshops for stakeholders.
- OWWA regional offices are located beside the Department’s regional office as far as practicable.
- One-stop shop centers for OFWs include offices such as the:
- Professional Regulation Commission,
- Maritime Industry Authority,
- TESDA,
- OWWA,
- Philippine Statistics Authority,
- Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority,
- DFA Office of Consular Affairs,
- DSWD,
- National Bureau of Investigation,
- Pag-IBIG,
- Philippine National Police,
- Bureau of Immigration,
- Bureau of Internal Revenue.
Migrant Workers Office abroad (MWO)
- The MWO of Philippine Foreign Service Posts is the overseas operating arm of the Department.
- Within three (3) years from effectivity of the Act, and as far as practicable, all Philippine Foreign Service Posts must have an existing and operational MWO.
- Foreign Service Posts in countries with large concentrations of OFWs are prioritized for MWO establishment.
- Each MWO has the same jurisdiction, including concurrent and consular jurisdiction, as the Foreign Service Post to which it is attached.
- The MWO absorbs powers and functions of POLO, OSWA, and ATN units relating to OFWs in all embassies and consulates.
- The DFA must ensure at least one consular official is available at all times to perform consular functions to support MWO operations.
- Each MWO maintains a center for 24-hour monitoring of media and social media to respond to events affecting OFWs.
- MWO functions include:
- verifying employment contracts and employment-related documents,
- monitoring and reporting to the Secretary policy and situation developments affecting OFWs and Philippine labor policies,
- pursuing discussions with host government agencies, other embassies, and international organizations,
- verifying whereabouts, status, and condition of OFWs consistent with host laws,
- ensuring protection of welfare and interests of OFWs and assisting in problems arising from employer-employee relationships, including violations of work contracts, nonpayment of wages and benefits, illegal dismissal, and other violations,
- supervising and coordinating the MWRC operations,
- providing social and welfare programs and services including social assistance, education and training, cultural services, financial management, reintegration, and entrepreneurial development,
- responding to global emergencies or crisis situations affecting Filipino nationals through cooperation with DFA,
- managing cases and providing psychosocial services for OFWs in distress such as trafficking victims or illegal recruitment victims, rape or sexual abuse victims, maltreatment, and abandoned or neglected children,
- providing assistance to victims of kidnapping, hostage victims, and victims of other crimes in cooperation with DFA,
- conducting hospital visitation and assistance until recovery where practicable and appropriate,
- facilitating repatriation of distressed OFWs including shipment of remains and personal belongings,
- providing legal or other assistance in labor, criminal, immigration, and other cases filed by or against OFWs, whether detained or not,
- deploying lawyer-interpreter teams covered by a DFA consular officer to provide initial legal assessment and advice so the OFW does not sign documents in an unfamiliar language,
- protecting women migrant workers by ensuring a gender focal point officer in MWO offices and MWRCs, conducting regular gender-sensitivity and ending-VAW training, and conducting gender audits to assess program responsiveness,
- undertaking surveys and preparing social welfare situationers,
- establishing networks with overseas social welfare agencies/individuals/groups for services,
- establishing data banks and documentation systems for OFWs and families,
- submitting regular reports to the Secretary and DFA for semi-annual reporting to Congress under Section 33 of Republic Act No. 8042, as amended,
- updating the online database system under the Act to deliver timely welfare services,
- engaging and negotiating with host-country agencies for fair application of labor and social welfare laws and bilateral skills certification and mutual recognition of training equivalencies, and
- performing other functions assigned by the Secretary.
MWO governance, reporting, and deployment rules
- MWO officials deployed at posts are designated as Migran Workers Service Attaches, subject to prior clearance from the Secretary of Foreign Affairs.
- No MWO official shall serve as acting principal officer of any embassy, consulate general, or consulate or precede in rank any Foreign Service Officer performing principal functions.
- Deployment and performance of MWO officials are governed by Department rules, Philippine Foreign Service Act of 1991, Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, and rules of the receiving State.
- OWWA welfare officers are part of the personnel complement of the MWO at the foreign service post and, to the extent practicable, should hold office as part of the MWO team.
- The MWO is headed by a Migrant Workers Service Attache assisted by at least one Assistant Migrant Workers Service Attache and necessary technical/administrative staff including IT specialists.
- The MWO Head may recommend to the Secretary the engagement of local hires such as drivers, interpreters, and administrative assistants when direly needed.
- Officials and staff are assigned by the Secretary mostly from the Department’s overseas personnel pool.
- The Head of MWO has authority over all MWO personnel including personnel from other agencies assigned to the MWO.
- The Head of MWO exercises direct supervision and control over implementation of MWO programs and management, while the Assistant Migrant Workers Service Attache manages day-to-day MWRC operations.
- The Secretary designates a qualified ranking MWS officer to head the MWO with preference for a migration specialist with at least five years’ experience in labor migration.
- The Secretary designates a similarly qualified MWS officer as Assistant Migrant Workers Service Attache and Assistant Head of the MWO and Manager of the MWRC.
- The MWO absorbs existing overseas personnel of DOLE/POLO, OSWA, and OWWA as the initial pool, and the Secretary may expand or contract the pool consistent with approved staffing patterns and needs.
- MWO qualifications, hiring, training, merit promotion, rotation deployment, and recall are established by the Department in accordance with its rules and reflected in an MWO Manual of Operations.
- The MWO is under the primary authority of the Secretary but under the general supervision of the Head of the Foreign Service Post.
- MWO officials abroad follow the One Country Team Approach, where all Philippine government posted officers act as one country team under the Ambassador or Consul General.
- The Ambassador or Consul General may recommend to the Secretary the recall of Department officers posted abroad for misbehavior, misconduct, acts prejudicial or inimical to national interest, or failure to provide services to protect OFW rights.
- The Secretary must prioritize fact finding and decide whether to approve or disapprove the recommended disciplinary action within fifteen (15) calendar days from receipt of the recommendation.
MWRC establishment and functions
- The Department establishes a Migrant Workers Resource Center (MWRC) in countries with large concentrations of OFWs.
- As far as practicable, the MWRC is established within the premises of the Philippine Foreign Service Post.
- If a Migrant Workers and Other Filipinos Resource Center (MWOFRC) already exists in the Foreign Service Post jurisdiction, it is constituted as the MWRC for that Post.
- For MWRCs established outside foreign service post premises, the DFA shall endeavor to secure appropriate recognition from the receiving government.
- The MWRC absorbs the powers and functions of the MWOFRC under Republic Act No. 8042, as amended.
- The MWRC is under the Department and provides temporary shelters to distressed OFWs in addition to absorbed MWOFRC functions.
- Day-to-day operations are managed by the MWO Assistant Head under direct supervision and control of the MWO Head, with the MWO Head keeping the Chief of Mission informed and updated through written reports submitted at least quarterly.
- MWRC admissions and trainings are governed by an MWRC Manual of Operations.
- The MWRC provides services including:
- temporary shelter,
- counseling and legal services,
- welfare assistance including procurement of medical and hospitalization services,
- information and advisory programs promoting social integration such as post-arrival orientation, settlement, and community networking,
- registration of irregular/undocumented workers to bring them within the protection of Philippine and host country laws,
- implementation of DMW and OWWA programs,
- human resources development such as training and skills upgrading,
- gender-sensitive programs and activities to assist particular needs,
- orientation for returning workers and other migrants, and
- monitoring daily circumstances and activities affecting migrant workers and overseas Filipinos.
MWRC operations, staffing, and services
- Each MWRC is staffed by an appropriate number of Department and OWWA personnel.
- The MWO Head may tap individual volunteers from bona fide Filipino community organizations if urgently needed, after consultation with the Head of the Philippine Foreign Service Post and relevant bona fide OFW organizations in the jurisdiction.
- MWRC personnel may include professionals such as psychologists, health professionals, social workers, interpreters, and Sharia lawyers with human rights competencies in highly problematic countries categorized by DFA and DMW and with large Filipino migrant worker concentrations.
- MWRC personnel may include a public relations officer or case officer conversant in the local language, laws, customs, and practices of the receiving country, and/or a legal retainer hired onsite on a case-by-case basis.
- MWRC staffing may also include repatriation and reintegration staff to provide repatriation and reintegration program services.
- The MWRC operates on a 24-hour basis including Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.
- A counterpart 24-hour Information and Assistance Center is established at the DMW Home Office to ensure continuous coordination and includes a toll-free number for calls.