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Villanueva: Restore DMW budget: Majority Floor Leader Joel Villanueva vows to “fight” for the restoration of the Department of Migrant Workers' (DMW) proposed 2024 budget amounting to P15.3 billion Monday, November 13, 2023. According to Villanueva, DMW’s budget was slashed by as much as P2.6 billion after plenary deliberation in the House of Representatives. While the Senate version of the 2024 national budget increased DMW’s budget by P1 billion, he said the amount is not enough to cover the agency’s needs. Villanueva was informed that some vital programs of the agency would be affected by the decrease in budget including the expansion improvement of the migrant workers offices, migrant workers resource centers, provision for food and other necessities to distressed workers and members of their families, hiring of additional local hires including training and other developmental activities, operational expenses including repatriation by natural calamities, armed conflicts, civil strife and other incidents in the host country and neighboring areas, cancer assistance and relief expenses for overseas Filipino workers, among others. “I will fight for the budget of the DMW and I support our good sponsor that the original budget be retained,” Villanueva said. (Joseph Vidal/Senate PRIB)