Bulk of the P16.09 billion is allotted to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), an attached agency of the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), at P11.77 billion. The remaining P4.32 billion was approved for the Office of the Secretary.

The interpellations for the DMW budget began past 1 am on Friday at the tail end of marathon debates for other agencies which began earlier on Thursday, November 10. Migrant Workers Secretary Susan “Toots” Ople, a cancer survivor, stayed in the plenary hall the whole day, waiting for her department to be taken up.

This will be the DMW’s first budget, as former president Rodrigo Duterte signed the law creating the department in December 2021. The department has been operating in transition for 2022.

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