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 The Overseas Filipino Workers desk was
established in 1997 to address the phenomenon of migration and the
complex problems that arise from it. The desk undertakes research and
advocacy on the following migration issues: migration and public policy,
pastoral and social care of migrants and their families, migrants’
rights, seafarers’ welfare and protection, and return migration.
It recently finished a study entitled “Parish-based Migrants Ministries:
A New Way of Being a Church for Migrants and their Families.” The study
points out the necessity of establishing programs in the parishes for
migrants who have returned to the country and programs for families who
are left behind as a consequence of migration of a breadwinner.
As a member of the Philippine Migrants Rights Watch, a network of
migrant civil society groups, the desk actively advocates for the
passage of the Absentee Voting Bill in the 12th Congress. The Absentee
Voting Bill will give OFWs the right to vote during elections – a right
that has been denied them in the past 14 years.
As part of its advocacy activities, the desk has initiated a Media and
Public Policy project, which aims to influence public policy on
migration through regular publication of writings on OFW issues. This
year, numerous news, commentaries and features on OFW issues saw print
in such newspapers as the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the Daily
Tribune, the Manila Times, Pinoy Times, the Philippine
Star, the Mindanao Times, and the online newspaper
CyberDyaryo. An OFW Journalism Consortium has been formed through
the efforts of the OFW desk. The Consortium is a media-civil
society groups that will regularly cover migration issues and stories.
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