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Tulfo seeks confidential fund for DMW to go after illegal recruiters, scammers

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Sherrie Ann Torres, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Inbound Filipino passengers, mostly overseas workers from Bahrain, undergo safety protocols upon arriving at the NAIA Terminal 1 on December 29, 2020. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News/File" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/news/09/11/20201229-naia-arrival-health-protocols-gc-9.jpg"/><figcaption>Inbound Filipino passengers, mostly overseas workers from Bahrain, undergo safety protocols upon arriving at the NAIA Terminal 1 on December 29, 2020. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News/File</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA (UPDATED) — Sen. Raffy Tulfo moved Monday to grant the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) its own confidential fund.The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) earlier scrapped DMW’s proposed P10 million confidential fund, which it intended to use in running after illegal recruiters and scammers victimizing overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).Tulfo said it’s time to arm the DMW with needed funds to protect OFWs.“Siguro panahon na para mabigyan ng confidential fund itong DMW. Why? Napakaraming illegal recruitment agency na dapat tugisin... Kaya karamihan ng OFWs pagdating dito wala nang pera, ubos ang pera dahil niloloko ng mga scammer,” Tulfo pointed out.“DMW needs intel information para tugisin ang mga ito... Yung other government agencies nabibigyan ng confidential funds. Why not DMW? Mas kailangan nila &#x27;yun,” he added.Sen. Francis Tolentino then asked DMW Officer-in-Charge Hans Cacdac if the agency needs and can handle confidential funds.“In the past we have relied on law enforcement for the confidential funds, but with the wisdom of the Senate, pwede po. We had initially proposed in the Tier 1, a P10 million confidential fund pero hindi po naisama sa NEP (National Expenditure Program),” Cacdac said.Tulfo said that he is wiling to sponsor either a P20 million or P50 million confidential fund for DMW, provided that it will deliver results.DMW Undersecretary Maria Anthonette Allones assured the Senate panel that they can properly use the budget and come up with good results.Cacdac said, they have the authority to issue and implement closure orders to erring recruitment agencies. “Meron kami dating opisina ng Anti-Illegal Recruitment Branch na na ngayon po ay tinatawag naming Migrant Workers Protection Bureau. Eto po yung may kakayahan na mag-conduct po ng surveillance, lalong-lalo na pag may nagrereklamo po na ang isang ahensya ay nagre-recruit at nagpapadala ng OFWs ng wala pong lisensya, wala pong authority to hire. At kami po yung nagi-issue ng closue orders dahil po sa pinatutupad naming mandato namin,” DMW Undersecretary Bernard Olalia explained. Four agencies were ordered closed aside from social media sites that they were able to shut down, Olalia said. “Yung binabanggit ninyo na gusto nyong gawin, can be done by giving the bureau more budget, tama?” asked Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III, which Olalia answered in the affirmative. But for Finance Committee Vice Chairman, Senator JV Ejercito, the better way is to strengthen DMW’s mandate, instead of giving the agency a confidential fund. Requests for confidential and intelligence funds he stressed, must only come from security-related government agencies. “We can strengthen the bureau instead under Usec. Bernard Olalia tutal epektibo naman kayo [DMW]. So, we don&#x27;t have to use confidential and intelligence funds. Maging example tayo na civilian departments do not need this,” Ejercito said. The said amount represents P3.560 billion for the DMW Office of Secretary, while the remaining P11.981 billion will be given to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA). Even Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva is not too keen to grant the DMW a confidential fund. “If we are to put a confidential fund, it’s okay with me. But I have yet to see the rationale and basis for it. Unless the bureau that we are. Talking about, that established to do its task will not be able to do it,” Villanueva said.But before the issue reached its final conclusion, Allones formally registered their agency&#x27;s stand against having a confidential fund.Such s stand, she said, was also the personal conviction of the late DMW Secretary Susan &quot;Toots&quot; Ople.&quot;I will be bereft of my personal honoring of Sec Toots if I don’t put this on record that when she was alive, she was against the taking in of confidential funds for the DMW because she believed that… if we work with law enforcement agencies, we will be able to do our mandate,&quot; Allones told the panel.The DMW is originally seeking P29.488 billion next year, but was slashed by the DBM to P15.542 billion.LOBBYING FOR CAUNAN? Tulfo, meanwhile, confronted DMW Undersecretary Patricia Yvonne Caunan, for allegedly enjoying the support of people who are even planning to hold rallies in front of the Senate to pressure him and other senators to endorse her as the new DMW head following the death of Secretary Susan “Toots” Ople. “Doon na lang sila mag-rally sa Luneta, huwag na sa Luneta, huwag na sa Senate. Kasi, we know what we’re doing... nobody can influence me... mag-tumbling-tumbling pa sila dan, hindi ako makikialam... pag nangyari yun, magra-rally ng magra-rally ang mga supporters mo at maa-appoint ka, magkakaroon tayo ng problema. I’m telling you this,” Tulfo, who is chairman of the Senate Committee on Migrant Workers, stressed. “This is the first time I heard of that effort to have a rally. Personally, Mr. Chair, if there are, those who have expressed their support. Well of course, any of us in this room can be a secretary. Based of course on the trust and confidence of the president,” Caunan said. “If may mag-approach by any group or of any OFWs and their plan is to do rally then I will discourage them,” she also assured Tulfo. IACAT GUIDELINES Villanueva meantime sought for the permanent junking of the IACAT’s (Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking) travel guidelines which resulted in the offloading of 32,4040 Filipinos bound for travel abroad. A close examination of these offloaded individuals revealed that only 472 are victims of human trafficking. Majority of those who were offloaded Filipinos also affected the situation of their family. One of those was offloaded was recently orphaned by their father, who was gifted by his sibling working in Dubai, to have a vacation there. Such individual, however, was barred from leaving Philippines twice, after failing to produce 10,000 dirhams, a property in Dubai with his name on it, a six-month bank statement with the stamp of the bank, Villanueva said. “Yung mga binayad niya hindi naman binalik... here comes IACAT guidelines na ang batting average at 1.46 percent... kalokohan po yun,” Villanueva said. “Are we not overreacting na ine-equate na natin sa visit visa automatically to a desire to work? Are there legitimate visit visas na ang nakakuha talagang bumisita lamang as a tourist? It’s an overreaction for the Philippine government for us to equate tourist visa to an employment visa because it’s not,” Senator Pimentel said. DMW officials promised to raise senators’ concerns in their next IACAT meeting. The approval of the DMW budget was deferred due to many pending questions. <div> RELATED VIDEO</div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cBCCdhYxDng?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><div> </div>

Sen. Tulfo said it’s time to arm the DMW with confidential fund to protect OFWs.

Tulfo seeks confidential fund for DMW to go after illegal recruiters, scammers

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Tulfo seeks confidential fund for DMW to go after illegal recruiters, scammers

Sherrie Ann Torres,

ABS-CBN News

Published Sep 11, 2023 08:11 PM PHT

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Updated Sep 12, 2023 01:10 AM PHT

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