City mayor taps labor expert to draft OFW aid program

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said he is tapping former labor undersecretary Josephus Jimenez as a consultant to come up with a program for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in the city and their families.

Rama said he convinced Jimenez during a recent trip to Manila to serve for a token fee of one peso a year.

“He does not expect to be paid like the rest of the consultants (in the city),” said Rama in his regular press conference.

He said he asked Jimenez to come up with a comprehensive development program for OFWs and their families.

Rama said it was important that OFWs and their families know how to manage their earnings.

The city can also help ensure they have available employment opportunities when their contracts abroad end, and ensure the welfare of the families they leave behind, added the mayor.

Rama said he wants the city’s 80 barangays to come up with their own OFW directory for proper monitoring.

All these proposed services will complement and not duplicate the functions of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), he said.

“Let’s help OWWA. We have the Department of Manpower and Development that holds job fairs. We will tape them,” said the mayor.

Jimenez is visiting Cebu City on July 14.

The mayor said he would present his proposed OFW development programs.