DOFIL, mangangailangan ng P1.19b pisong pondo –DBM

MANGANGAILANGAN ng P1.19 bilyong piso para pondohan ang panukalang Department of Overseas Filipinos (DOFIL).

Ito ang inihayag ni Director Emelita Menghamal ng Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Systems and Productivity Improvement Bureau matapos ang isinagawang deliberasyon DOFIL sa Senate Committee on Labor na pinamunuan ni Senator Joel Villanueva bilang chairman ng komite.

“The estimated budget for 2021 [for DOFIL] is P1.19 billion which is a minimum requirement for newly created department,” ayon kay Menghamal.

“This [amount] covers its operational cost but does not include budget for the implementation of its programs, activities and projects needed to meet its target outcomes in accordance with its mandate,” dagdag na pahayag nito.

Bago pa magbigay ng pagtataya si Menghama ay sinabi ni Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles na ang pamahaalan ay maaaring maglaan ng P15-billion budget para sa DOFIL para sa unang taon nito kung saan ang budget ay huhugutin mula sa iba’t ibang tanggapan na kasalukuyang naasa ilalim ng Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) o ng Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

Ang P15 billion budget ay hahatiin sa :

P12 million mula sa Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (OUMWA);

P1 billion mula sa Assistance to Nationals ng DFA;

P200 million mula sa Legal Assistance Fund;

P152 million ng Commission on Filipino Overseas;

P31.528 million mula sa International Labor Affairs Bureau;

P1.375 billion mula sa Philippine Overseas Labor Office;

P4.219 billion mula sa National Reintegration for OFWs;

P169 million mula sa Social Welfare Attaches Office/International Social Services Office

P507 million mula sa Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA); and

P7.39 billion mula sa Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA)

Sinabi ni Nograles na sa ilalim ng panukalang batas na sinertippikahan ni Pangulong Rodrigo Roa Duterte bilang urgent, ang DOFIL ay mayroon ding POEA at OWWA bilang attached agencies.

Sa kasalukuyan, ang OWWA at POEA ay attached agencies ng DOLE.

“At least, for its first year, wala nang dagdag na budget kasi iyong budget implications sa next budget cycle na,” ayon kay Nograles.

“Kaya six months po ang nakalagay na transition period [sa measure]. That is why we want it passed now. If Congress passes it into law this month, and the President signs it in March, towards the end of 2021, doon na natin makikita ang budget implication, pero very minimal siguro,” dagdag na pahayag ni Nograles. (Daris Jose)