DOLE adopts system to assist OFWs

MANILA, Philippines – Amid reports of rising cases of abuses against overseas Filipino workers, the government is soon adopting a new information system to provide immediate and necessary assistance for OFWs.

Labor Secretary Marianito Roque said the government is launching the so-called Foreign Labor Operations Information System (FLOIS) to improve the operations of the 38 Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (POLOs) worldwide. “FLOIS would provide internet-based information on profiles of OFWs, foreign employers and listing of foreign and local recruitment agencies,” Roque said.

Roque said the system will be integrated with the DOLE’s Information System Plan to enable labor officers abroad to extend assistance to needy OFWs on site. According to Roque, he already directed the DOLE’s International Labor Affairs Bureau and Planning Service to hasten the implementation of the FLOIS project.

Also yesterday, Roque ordered the POLO in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to look into reports that a number of Filipino household service workers have been maltreated by their Arab employers. Although the Filipino workers have not been identified, Roque said, he asked Riyadh-based Labor Attache Rustico dela Fuente to determine the veracity of the report.

He also urged OFWs and their families to contact the nearest POLO or the DOLE and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) in the Philippines for assistance in all cases of abuse and exploitation that the OFWs may encounter in the hands of their employers onsite.– Mayen Jaymalin, Philippine Star