Pati po ang mga klasrum sa Amerika, Thailand, Japan at Mongolia, napasok na rin ng mga gurong Pilipino. In Arizona, Filipinos fill teacher shortages as more Americans become increasingly uninterested in teaching jobs. 

Because of Filipino household service workers, men and women in many countries can raise families while pursuing careers. 

Saksi po ako kung gaano karami at kahalaga ang mga Pinay Household Service Workers sa Hong Kong. 

It is not an exaggeration to claim that pulling all of them out would crash Hong Kong’s economy. 

Because of Filipino professionals in companies, stores, factories, businesses, and hotels, startups thrived and earned profit. 

Because of overseas Filipinos, our country also prospered, lifting many out of poverty. 

At present, 12 percent po of the national income is the monetized sweat of the overseas Filipinos. 

Their generous remittances buoy our economy up, keeping it afloat in times of economic headwinds. 

Noong 2019, umabot po ng 1.56 trillion pesos ang kabuuang remittances ng mga overseas Filipinos. 

Ito yung pinadaan sa bangko at remittance centers. Mas malaki pa ang halaga kung kasama ang perang personal na inuwi o “ipinakisuyo” kay kabayang umuwi sa Pilipinas. 

Kung bibilangin po natin ang pasok ng salapi mula sa mga OFW na parang metro ng taxi, ito po ay P4.276 billion a day, P178.17 million an hour, and almost P3 million bawat minuto. 

Totoo pong malaki ang ambag ng ating mga overseas Filipinos sa Gross Domestic Product. Tunay nga pong dahil sa kanila ay naisasakatuparan ang mga pangarap ng kanilang mga mahal sa buhay. 

Wala pong dudang nakatulong silang pataasin ang ating ranggo bilang “Happiest Country in the World,” subalit pagdating naman po sa “personal misery index”, number one sila. 

Money sent can be measured, but misery felt can never be quantified. May invoice po ang perang padala, pero wala pong resibo ang lungkot, hirap, at pighati. 

There are metrics for the economic returns of migration; but, there is none for its social costs. 

Hindi pa po uso ang isolation, isolated na sila. Hindi pa man po uso ang distance learning, hasa na sila sa distance parenting. 

Missed routinely were not only birthdays but the once-in-a-lifetime chance to walk a daughter down the aisle or to bid goodbye to a dying or already dead parent or sibling. Wala pong salaping katumbas ang ganitong kalungkutan. 

Let me now give you more numbers: 

The pandemic that continues to plague economies around the globe displaced more than 520,000 OFWs.

As of July 2019, there were at least 14,532 Filipinos reportedly languishing in jails abroad, sixty-eight (68) of them are serving life sentence. 

Add to them the countless OFWs facing legal, health, psychosocial and financial quandaries. 

In Kuwait, at least three Filipina Household Workersdied over the last two years.Sino po ang makakalimot kina Joanna Demafelis, Constancia Dayag, at Jeanelyn 

Villavende na namatay matapos tratuhing masahol pa sa hayop ng kanilang mga employer? Dininig po natin ang kanilang mga kaso sa komite na ito.

It is against these backdrop that this bill before us should be heard and weighed. Export of Filipino brain and brawn ought to be a temporary quick fix and desperate economic solution. 

Pansamantala lang po sana ito at hindi pangmatagalan. Pero tila naging permanente na ang pagpapadala natin ng mga workers abroad. Bago po tumama ang pandemya, 6,092 na mga Pinoy ang sumasakay ng eroplano palabas ng bansa araw-araw. 

Isang Pilipino po kada 15 segundo ang nawawalay sa kanyang asawa at mga anak sa paghahanap ng “greener pasture”. 

We must consider the larger picture as we refine and finetune this bill. What is the role of worker deployment in our economic agenda? What place does it occupy in the future of our nation? 

Shall we remain as mere merchandise in the global labor market? Or should we start harnessing our best and brightest for our growth? In either case, how can we do so for our best benefit? 

Ang pagbalangkas po ng Department of Overseas Filipino o DOFil ay hindi simpleng reorganization, na parang lipat-bahay ang mga ahensya sa isang bagong bubong. Hindi ito relabelling exercise na mistulang pagpapalit lamang ng karatula ng pangalan. 

This legislation is not about workforce reassignments. Creating the DOFil is about assigning new potent mandates that will empower the department and the constituency it serves. 

We will use the hearings as a forum to review all laws about the rights of migrant workers. We will incorporate provisions that will give overseas Filipinos more protection from recruitment to repatriation to reintegration. 

We will enact a new division of labor among DOFil, DOLE, and DFA to create a synergy to serve the best interest overseas Filipinos better. 

Let us have a fruitful, frank, and illumined discussion, light and warm; rather than a heated debate. 

Gawin po natin ito para sa isang maganda at mapagpalang araw o gabi para sa mga bagong bayani ng ating bayan – sila po ang mga Pilipino sa ibayong-dagat na patuloy sa pagkayod at pagsusumikap para matamo ang kanilang mga pangarap: pangarap para sa kanilang sarili, pamilya at para sa ating minamahal na bayang Pilipinas. 

Maraming salamat po. And may God bless us all.