The Department of Migrant Workers ( fil, Kagawaran ng Manggagawang Mandarayuhan, abbreviated as DMW) is the

executive department The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a state. In political systems ba ...

of the

Philippine government The Government of the Philippines ( fil, Pamahalaan ng Pilipinas) has three interdependent branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The Philippines is governed as a unitary state under a presidential representative and d ...

responsible for the protection of the rights and promote the welfare of

Overseas Filipino Worker Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) is a term often used to refer to Filipino migrant workers, people with Filipino citizenship who reside in another country for a limited period of employment. The number of these workers was roughly 1.77 million be ...

s (OFW) and their families. The department was created under the Department of Migrant Workers Act (Republic Act No. 11641) that was signed by President

Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945), also known as Digong, Rody, and by the initials DU30 and PRRD, is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the chairperson ...

on December 30, 2021. The functions and mandate of the

Philippine Overseas Employment Administration The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) was an agency of the Government of the Philippines responsible for opening the benefits of the overseas employment program of the Philippines. It is the main government agency assigned to ...

(POEA) will serve as the backbone of the department and absorbing the seven offices of the

Department of Labor and Employment The Department of Labor and Employment ( fil, Kagawaran ng Paggawa at Empleyo}, commonly abbreviated as DOLE) is one of the executive departments of the Philippine government mandated to formulate policies, implement programs and services, an ...

(DOLE) and Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) namely the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers' Affairs (OUMWA) of the DFA, Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO), International Labor Affairs Bureau (ILAB), National Reintegration Center for OFWs (NRCO) and the National Maritime Polytechnic (NMP) of the DOLE. The

Overseas Workers Welfare Administration The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (abbreviated as OWWA) is an attached agency of the Department of Labor and Employment of the Philippines. It protects the interests of Overseas Filipino Workers and their families, providing social s ...

(from DOLE) will serve as its attached agency and the DMW Secretary will serve as the concurrent Chairperson of OWWA. The department is also mandated to closely coordinate with the Bangsamoro Ministry of Labor and Employment (MOLE) on the training, protection and regulation of deployment of overseas

Bangsamoro ar, منطقة بانجسامورو ذاتية الحكم فى مسلمى مينداناو , native_name = , settlement_type = Autonomous region , anthem = Bangsamoro Hymn , image_skyline ...

workers.

History

On July 12, 2019, during the ''Araw ng Pasasalamat for OFWs'' (Thanksgiving day for the Overseas Filipino Workers), President Duterte in a speech promised to finish the framework for the creation of a department that caters to the need of OFWs. On July 23, 2019, Taguig-Pateros Representative and

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

Alan Peter Cayetano Alan Peter Schramm Cayetano (Tagalog pronunciation: ajɛˈtano born October 28, 1970) is a Filipino politician, lawyer, and diplomat serving as a Senator since 2022 and previously from 2007 to 2017. He was the Senate Minority Leader from 20 ...

together with Representative

Lani Cayetano Maria Laarni "Lani" Lopez Cayetano (born Maria Laarni Clariño Lopez; December 11, 1981) is a Filipina politician who is the current Mayor of Taguig from 2010 to 2019 and again since 2022. She previously served as the Representative of the 1st ...

Taguig Taguig (), officially the City of Taguig ( fil, Lungsod ng Taguig), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in Metro Manila, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 886,722 people. Located in the northwestern shores of ...

and Representative

Paolo Duterte Paolo "Pulong" Zimmerman Duterte (; ; born March 24, 1975) is a Filipino politician who is the representative of Davao City's 1st district. He previously served as vice mayor of Davao City from 2013 until his resignation in December 2017. Pao ...

Davao City Davao City, officially the City of Davao ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Dabaw; ), is a first class highly urbanized city in the Davao Region, Philippines. The city has a total land area of , making it the largest city in the Philippines in terms of lan ...

filed House Bill No. 00002 and was referred to the Congressional Committee on Government Reorganization and Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs. On March 11, 2020, the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

with 173 yeas and 11 nays, approved House Bill No. 5832 or the creation of ''Department of Filipinos Overseas and Foreign Employment''. During his last State of the Nation Address on July 26, 2021, President Duterte marked House Bill No. 5832 as urgent and urged the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

to pass the bill. Senator

Joel Villanueva Emmanuel Joel Jose Villanueva (, born August 2, 1975), nicknamed "Tesdaman", is a Filipino politician serving as the Senate Majority Leader since 2022 and has been a Senator since 2016. He previously served as the Director General of the Tec ...

filed Senate Bill No. 1848 or the ''Department of Overseas Filipinos Act''. Subsequent bills were filed in the Senate and were consolidated under Senate Bill No. 2234. Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon introduced several institutional amendments that delimit the scope of the new department to overseas migrant workers and the welfare of Filipinos overseas will be handled by the Department of Foreign Affairs. On December 14, 2021, the Senate unanimously (20-0-0) approved Senate Bill No. 2234 The following day, the House chose to adopt SB No. 2234 over its House Bill No. 5832 understanding the urgent certification of the President. During the

commemoration Commemoration may refer to: *Commemoration (Anglicanism), a religious observance in Churches of the Anglican Communion *Commemoration (liturgy) In the Latin liturgical rites of the Catholic Church, a commemoration is the recital, within the Li ...

of the 125th death anniversary of Dr.

Jose Rizal Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. * Jose ben Abin * Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Gali ...

at the

Malacañang Palace Malacañang Palace ( fil, Palasyo ng Malakanyang, ; es, Palacio de Malacañán), officially known as Malacañan Palace, is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the Philippines. It is located in the Manila distric ...

on December 30, 2021, President Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11641 and was witnessed by

Senate President President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for ex ...

Vicente Sotto III Vicente Castelo Sotto III (; born August 24, 1948), professionally known as Tito Sotto, is a Filipino politician, entertainer and athlete who served as Senate President from 2018 to 2022. Before that, had two stints each as Senate Majority Lea ...

, Speaker

Lord Allan Velasco Lord Allan Jay Quinto Velasco (born November 9, 1977) is a Filipino politician and lawyer who served as the Speaker of the House of Representatives from October 12, 2020 to June 2022. He is concurrently serving as the Representative of Marin ...

and DOLE Secretary

Silvestre Bello III Silvestre Hernando Bello III (born June 23, 1944) is a Filipino businessman and lawyer from Isabela, who served as the Secretary of the Philippines' Department of Labor and Employment, and concurrently Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process ...

Secretaries

Note: * ''*'' - Abdullah Mama-o served only as the ad interim secretary of the Department of Migrant Workers from March 9 to June 30, as the department has just been established under the Duterte administration.

Sub-departments and agencies

* Undersecretary for Internal Management and Administration (from POEA) * Undersecretary for Foreign Employment and Welfare Services (from POEA, OUMWA, NRCO) * Undersecretary for Licensing and Adjudication (from POEA) * Undersecretary for Policy and International Cooperation (from ILAB) * Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (POLO) * Migrant Workers Resource Center (MWRC) * National Maritime Polytechnic (NMP) * Maritime Industry Tripartite Council (MITC) * Overseas Land-based Tripartite Consultative Council (OLTCC) * Office of the Social Welfare Attaché (OSWA) *

Overseas Filipino Bank The Overseas Filipino Bank (OFBank) is the state-owned digital-only, branchless bank in the Philippines. Formerly known as the Philippine Postal Savings Bank (PPSB) or PostBank, it is the smallest of the Philippines' three state-owned banks (t ...

(OFBank), in association with Department of Finance * Overseas Filipino Hospital (OFH), in association with Department of Health

References

{{Executive Departments of the Philippines

Migrant Workers A migrant worker is a person who migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers who work outsi ...

Labour ministries Overseas Filipino Worker Migrant workers 2021 establishments in the Philippines Government agencies established in 2021