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STATEMENT BY THE
HONORABLE RON P. SALO
KABAYAN Party-list
Assistant Majority Leader
 
SOLON ASKS DFA, DBM, PRC, CSC TO ACT FAST ON OFW CONCERNS IN DUBAI
 
As Member of the House Committees on Foreign Affairs and Overseas Workers Affairs, I urgently appeal to the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Budget and Management, Professional Regulation Commission, and Civil Service Commission to swiftly address in six to 12 months the pressing concerns of our heroic OFWs in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
 
I have been from Dubai where I initiated town hall meetings and consultations.
 
The Dubai consular office badly and urgently need more consular officers and several more staff to cope with the demands of attending to the needs of about 500 thousand OFWs within their area of responsibility.
 
From January to October, the Dubai consular office had 60,600 passport applications, 476 applicants for travel documents, and 4769 applicants for amendments to consular documents. For all these, that office has only three consular officers and 38 staff.
 
For passport applicants, there is a queing system, and the average is 2 months to be able to get an appointment because of limited resources. Resources are very limited: very few personnel and only two machines for passporting. They need at least double the current resources.
 
OFWs in Dubai asked me to relay to the PRC their request for the conduct of licensure examinations there. They also asked the CSC for the administration of civil service exams in Dubai.
 
I assured OFWs in Dubai that the government, especially President Duterte, is exerting best efforts to assure distressed OFWs or those charged with cases that their rights shall be protected and as soon as their cases are okay, the government will sponsor their repatriation to enable them see their families & loved ones behind.
 
With the Filipino community, I discussed the various advocacies of KABAYAN Partylist (kalusugan, pabahay, kabuhayan, edukasyon & OFW) KABAYAN + 2 and the bills filed to achieve these objectives: Kalusugan - Universal Health Care; Pabahay - Department of Housing & the On-Site, In-City Resettlement; Kabuhayan - related to the 3Cs of Education; Education - 3Cs of Education (Critical Thinking, Craftsmanship & Character); and OFW - Department of Migration Development.

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