Duterte Wants Department, Bank for OFWs

A department devoted entirely to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and a bank to accept their remittances: these are just some of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s plans to help OFWs if he is elected president.

Duterte said reading about the abuses heaped on OFWs by their foreign employers has become almost an “everyday spectacle.” This is the reason why he wants to set up an entire department to help these overseas Pinoys, which now number at least 4.21 million, according to 2013 data from the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO).

He said the OFW bank will help overseas Pinoys send their money quickly.

He said envoys and other Filipino officials in foreign embassies should also keep track of overseas Pinoys.

“At the first sign of abuse and if they want to go home, libre na yan. We will fund it. If they get sick, I will pay the hospital. We will have a credit line in all the hospitals. Kung nabugbog…bigyan na ng ticket,” he said.

“If they want the contract suspended , they will have the legal aid.”

(Source: ABS-CBN.com)