Families can now check the situation of their loved ones working overseas through a new system set in place by the POEA known as the OFW Welfare Monitoring System (OWMS).
The OWMS is part of the government’s efforts to look after the rights and well-being of the millions of OFWs working in all parts of the globe. The online system will be used by local recruitment and manning agencies to gather information and to create a report on the condition of OFWs as they are deployed overseas.
Enhanced Monitoring of OFWs Now Available Online
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), which is the lead agency handling the system, has given instructions to all recruitment agencies to submit the initial status of OFWs three months after their deployment, as shared in a report by the Philippine Star.
Under this initiative, a regular monitoring report will be submitted every quarter. However, if there’s a significant event or incident, the recruitment or manning agency concerned must submit the relevant report within five days from the time of the incident.
For OFWs deployed prior to the implementation of the system, the POEA has given concerned agencies three months to produce similar reports.
Agencies with an existing POEA e-services account will simply have to log on to the POEA’s official website to access their help desk facility.
According to the POEA, an individual monitoring report file will be created for each worker deployed. Reports on significant and critical incidents shall be treated “active” until such time the POEA declares it closed.
Meanwhile, the Workers Education and Welfare Monitoring Division (WEWMD) of the POEA shall manage each report submitted by the recruitment and manning agencies. The WEWMD shall evaluate and submit regular analysis reports to the administrator.
Agencies that fail to comply with the requirements set by the POEA shall face administrative sanctions.
As the decision to create an OFW Department is still being evaluated, this initiative set by the POEA will somewhat offer some kind of reassurance that OFWs are being monitored carefully as they are supposed to.
However, compliance will be something that should be looked into and must be used as a basis for agencies to continue providing their services, because regardless of whether or not the online facility was developed, it is their responsibility to keep track of the status if not the welfare of the OFWs they deploy overseas.
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