TINGOG Rep. Jude Acidre on Sunday appealed to the Senate for the swift passage of the “Bagong Balikbayan Act.”
Acidre, a former chairman of the House Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs and now chairman of the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education, made the appeal as overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) arrive home after the holiday season.
“With OFWs coming home in large numbers after the holidays, early Senate action would send a strong signal that Congress is ready to match their sacrifices with concrete and lasting reforms,” he said in a statement.
Acidre said the bill was part of the initiative of Leyte 1st District Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez to institutionalize long-term protection and reintegration support for OFWs.
House Bill 6643 seeks to establish a comprehensive, integrated, and sustainable reintegration program for OFWs.
The House of Representatives approved the bill last Dec. 16 and transmitted it to the Senate the next day.
“The proposed law addresses long-standing gaps in existing reintegration programs, which lawmakers note often leave returning OFWs unemployed or underemployed months after coming home, despite years of skills and experience gained overseas,” Acidre said.
“Every first quarter of the year, we see OFWs come home with plans to rebuild their lives,” he said. “This bill ensures they are not left to navigate that transition alone, but are met with clear pathways to work, livelihood, and family stability.”
Under the proposed law, reintegration assistance will begin as early as six months before an OFW’s return, allowing workers and their families to plan ahead for employment, entrepreneurship, education or skills upgrading, and psychosocial support.
The measure “also mandates regular job fairs, expanded employment facilitation, and formal recognition of skills and work experience acquired overseas, including the possible grant of appropriate civil service eligibility based on overseas experience.”
Centralized digital platforms would be established to “allow returnee OFWs to access job matching, training, financial literacy programs, and reintegration services through a single system, cutting down paperwork and multiple visits to government offices.”
The measure also provides psychosocial counseling, family reintegration support, and access to social protection programs, particularly for distressed and vulnerable households.
