TIM eMagazine Volume 2 Issue 12 | Page 37

OFW command center up T o further enhance the protection and welfare of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), the Department of Labor and Employment established the OFW Command Center to serve as the central referral and action hub for all OFW requests for immediate action and assistance.  Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III issued Administrative Order No.73 constituting the 24/7 OFW Command Center for all walk-in, email, text and telephone requests for assistance. The center will also attend to the requests of OFWs through news reports and referrals.  The Center will also be accessible through the social media and online messaging platforms and shall promptly and accordingly respond to the OFWs’ employment concerns, welfare cases, repatriation and Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III TIM eMagazine Vol.2 Issue 12 other related concerns.  “The operation of the Command Center will help ensure that all the concerns of our OFWs are attended to, especially if the incident involving them needed immediate action and assistance,” Bello said.  The implementing guidelines for the effective operation of the Command Center will be jointly formulated by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), and International Labor Affairs Bureau (ILAB) within 30 days upon signing of the administrative order.   The command center is under the direct supervision of the Head of International Labor Affairs Bureau and is temporarily housed at the ILAB Office, 2nd Floor, DOLE Building, Intramuros, Manila.  dole.gov.ph  “The operation of the Command Center will help ensure that all the concerns of our OFWs are attended to, especially if the incident involving them needed immediate action and assistance,” Bello said. 37