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| OFWs can use either the OFW Pass or OEC to leave the Philippines, says DMW |
The Department of Migrant Workers has clarified that all overseas Filipino workers who can secure the OFW Pass through the DMW app may already use it as an exit pass in the Philippines instead of the OEC, or overseas employment certificate.
DWC
Officer-in-Charge Hans Leo J. Cacdac made the clarification amid questions
sparked by his advisory on Oct. 15 that the OEC “will continue to be a valid
exit clearance for OFWs until further notice.”
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But at the same
time, he said the OFW Pass “will continue to be available to the ten (10) pilot
countries and the Philippines through the DMW app.”
Hong Kong was
one of the pilot sites for the OFW Pass, along Saudi Arabia, United Arab
Emirates, Singapore, Qatar, Oman,
Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan and the United Kingdom.
The test run for
the OFW Pass ended on September 29, but OIC Cacdac said its implementation in
other territories abroad was being put on hold pending an evaluation of the functionality
and performance of the DMW App.
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He assured it
would be made available to other places abroad in future, after consultations
with the Migrant Workers Office and Filipino communities there/
In response to a
query from The SUN on whether this meant that an OFW leaving the Philippines
may use the OFW Pass if available, OIC Cacdac said, “Yes, they can use it in
place of OECs. Kindly endorse anyone who may need help securing the OFW Pass.”
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Despite the assurance, many Filipino migrants seem to prefer getting the OEC still, apparently because of fear they could get held up on their way to their job sites in case the OFW Pass is not recognized by DMW staff at the airport.
This is despite the
OEC having a validity of just 90 days while the OFW Pass remains valid for the
duration of the OFW’s contract.
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Marites Nuval,
president of Global Alliance and a longtime volunteer at the Migrant Workers
Office, says her group continues to receive requests for help from OFWs in
securing the OEC instead of the OFW Pass.
“Libre na rin kasi ngayon ang OEC kahit sa
mga nag change employer,” she says. (It’s because the OEC is also free now
even for those who change employers).
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She herself has yet
to acquire the OFW Pass because she recently changed employers and was still
waiting for her new work visa to be issued. She wants to wait until all her
documents are available before she starts downloading them into the app.
Nuval also says many users of the DMW app have
experienced difficulty logging in, or acquiring the OFW Pass despite uploading
all the required documents.
But she says she
has seen many OFWs managing to secure
the blue-colored OFW Pass, mostly
because the MWO staff helped them navigate through the DMW app when they had
their new contracts verified.
As to whether
anyone she knows managed to get past the DMW and immigration counters in the
Philippines using just the OFW Pass, Nuval says she will know only early next
month, when a friend who secured the digitized exit clearance goes home for a vacation.
Meanwhile, Unifil-Migrante
Hong Kong chair Dolores Balladares says a member of her group was told to get
both passes before going home to ensure a trouble-free return to Hong Kong.
“If they were
confident that the OFW Pass was enough for her to get out of the country, why
was she advised to secure the OEC as well?,” she asked.
The better
alternative to getting rid of the queuing and other problems linked to the OEC
is to junk it altogether, instead of replacing it with another pass which is
equally, if not more, problematic to secure, Balladares said.
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