The Department of Labor and Employment Regional Office No. 3 is encouraging Central Luzon residents who are either returning overseas Filipino workers or those who are intending to work abroad to avail of overseas employment services at two malls in San Fernando, Pampanga.
“We want to inform our OFWs and those who wish to work abroad that various overseas-related services of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA, and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), can be availed conveniently at two malls in Pampanga,” DOLE Regional Office No. 3 Director Anna Dione said.
At present, the POEA and OWWA’s Satellite Offices are housed at the third floor of SM City Pampanga’s Government Service Express, which is next to the mall’s Business Center.
The POEA’s frontline services include documentation of workers (land-based and sea-based), documentation on workers-on-leave/Balik Manggagawa, registration of land-based worker-applicants, verification/certification of OFW records, provision of legal assistance, and response to queries.
The 11-personnel manned POEA Satellite Office is supervised by POEA Coordinator Paterno Juridico and can be reached at (045) 455-0832 and at poea.region3@yahoo.com.
Meanwhile, clients can also avail for the processing of their OWWA membership/renewal of membership and scheduling of pre-departure orientation seminars (PDOS) from the OWWA Satellite Office.
The four-manned OWWA Satellite Office, supervised by Overseas Workers Welfare Officer II Alma Dizon, can be reached at 0917-4379429/0928-2171472 and at owwacentralluzon@gmail.com.
These DOLE attached agencies handle an average of 300 clients during lean periods up to an average of 600 clients at peak periods on a daily basis. It operates at the government express services from Monday to Friday.
Other agencies at the government service express include the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), Philippine Postal Corporation (Phil-Post), and Social Security System (SSS).
The Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority or TIEZA is also present at the government service express to provide its frontline services.
The TESDA’s Specialista Desk, on the other hand, is located at Lingkod Pinoy Center, 2nd floor, Robinson’s Starmills Pampanga. Walk-in clients can avail information on TESDA’s scholarship, apprenticeship, and learnership programs and likewise be provided with Career Guidance and Counselling from its personnel.
The TESDA Specialista Desk, launched under its Special Desk Program (SDP), operates daily from 10:00am to 7:00pm from Monday to Thursday.
The notable presence of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) at the Lingkod Pinoy Center can serve OFWs for processing of new or renewal of passports, and passport validity extension of Balik Manggagawa.
Other government agencies ready to provide their frontline services at the Lingkod Pinoy Center include the Home Mutual Development Fund (Pag-IBIG), SSS, and Phil-Post.
All three DOLE attached agencies, as well as other agencies, already have their easy-to-follow process flows and queuing systems found under respective their Citizen’s Charters.
RD Dione noted that OFW clients from Central Luzon and nearby areas would find it easy and convenient in availing various OFW-related programs from both malls.
“SM City Pampanga and Robinsons Starmills Pampanga are convenient venues to avail our OFW programs because of their conducive facilities. Aside from this, both malls are connected by a shaded footbridge which makes it easy for clients to walk from one mall to the other,” Dione explained.
Dione also noted that the OFW one-stop-shop services in these malls have already been existing since 2014 through memoranda of agreement (MOA) between the mentioned agencies and the malls.
“It is very timely that we are reporting these initiatives that we’ve already undertaken early on to Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III. This is in response to the first item of the Secretary’s Eight-Point Labor and Employment Agenda, which is continuously enhance and transform the labor agency into an efficient, responsive, purposeful, and accountable institution by tasking all DOLE regional offices to establish one-stop-shops in their respective areas to make it easier for OFWs to avail the services of government,” Dione said./J. Borja