SEN. PACQUIAO'S BILL ON OFW MANUAL HURDLES 2ND READING

SENATE -- Sen. Manny Pacquiao has authored a bill seeking further protection by the government of our so-called modern-day heroes - the overseas Filipino workers.

Senate Bill 192, which was recently passed during the second reading, mandates the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to publish, disseminate and update a handbook on the rights and responsibilities of OFWs.

The proposed bill seeks to provide migrant workers with a guidebook that contains pertinent information vital in helping them address their problems and concerns abroad.

The handbook also aims to serve as ready reference if and when OFWs need to assert their rights while working overseas.

The handbook will be written in simple language with translation in vernaculars readily understand by the OFWs.

Sen. Pacquiao hopes the measure can help address the miserable plight of many migrant Filipino workers particularly in Middle East countries where physical and even sexual abuses of our OFWs have been rampant.

No less than President Duterte had issued a warning to ban deployment of OFWs in the Middle East countries unless their respective government will do something to curb the abuses.

The neophyte senator is taking the cudgel not just to protect OFWs but including victims of human trafficking.

In 2010, while still serving as Sarangani congressman, he declared an all-out war against human trafficking, sending a strong message across that Filipinos are not for sale.

He supported legislations seeking to combat, if not abolish, modern-day slavery. Shortly afterward, the government heeded his call for action, highlighted by the prosecution and conviction of human trafficking offenders.

This accomplishment prompted the United States government to remove the Philippines from its Tier 2 Watch List in 2011.

He was also instrumental for the passage of the expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012 (RA 10364).

Pacquiao, together with former Reps. Walden Bello and Mel Senen Sarmiento, championed the measure that strengthens the State's policies in ending all forms of human trafficking during the previous Congress.

He vowed to continue the crusade for the protection of migrant workers and the less fortunate.