DFA and DMW Secretaries Discuss Turnover of Assistance to Nationals (ATN) Duties from DFA to DMW

Secretary for Foreign Affairs Enrique A. Manalo (center) and Secretary for Migrant Workers Maria Susana V. Ople (5th from right), with DFA and DMW officials. From left (DFA): Senior Special Assistant Roy B. Ecraela, Assistant Secretary for Migrant Workers Paul Raymund P. Cortes, Chief of Staff Maria Teresa T. Almojuela, Chief Coordinator Bernadette C. Fernandez, Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Eduardo José A. de Vega. From right (DMW): Assistant Secretary for Land-based Services and Chief of Staff Jerome A. Alcantara, Undersecretary for Policy and International Cooperation Patricia Yvonne M. Caunan, Undersecretary for Finance and Internal Affairs Maria Anthonette C. Velasco-Allones, Undersecretary for Welfare and Foreign Employment Hans Leo G. Cacdac

28 March 2023 – Secretary for Foreign Affairs Enrique A. Manalo hosted a working luncheon at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for Secretary for Migrant Workers Maria Susana V. Ople and high-level officials of the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), with a view to strengthening the DMW’s capabilities for providing Assistance to Nationals (ATN) to distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

The two heads of agencies engaged in broad-ranging discussions on the transition of ATN functions to DMW, including on training for DMW personnel, exchange of information on ATN processes, organization development, and continued close cooperation between Philippine Embassies, Consulates, and Migrants Workers Offices (MWOs, formerly the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices or POLOs) overseas under the One Country Team Approach.

Secretary Manalo welcomed Secretary Ople’s earlier announcement that the DMW is ready to assume the responsibility of ATN for OFWs by the end of June, especially with Secretary Ople’s confirmation that the AKSYON Fund was already being utilized. The AKSYON (Agarang Kalinga at Saklolo para sa mga OFW na Nangangailangan) Fund was created under R.A. 11641 for the DMW’s ATN services for OFWs.

The working luncheon concluded with Secretary Manalo affirming that the DFA and the DMW are partners in the Third Pillar of the Philippine Foreign Policy, which is the protection of the rights and promotion of the welfare and interest of overseas Filipinos.

Secretary Ople reiterated her appreciation for the meeting between high-level officials of the DFA and DMW, and expressed the hope that both agencies could strengthen coordination at working level and address common concerns as they arise.

The ATN program of the Philippine government started in 1995, helmed by the DFA’s Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs (OUMWA). In the past 27 years, the Philippines has achieved recognition from other countries in taking action to assist distressed overseas Filipinos, majority of them OFWs. In anti-trafficking efforts, effective cooperation among all the member agencies of the Interagency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) resulted in the Philippines achieving and maintaining Tier 1 status in the annual Trafficking in Persons Report from 2017 to 2022.

In accordance with R.A. 11641, the DFA will continue to provide ATN services to overseas Filipinos who are not OFWs. It will also continue its ATN services for OFWs in jurisdictions where there are no resident MWOs.

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