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Upgraded reintegration program for OFWs: Majority Leader Joel Villanueva wants the full cycle of reintegration program for returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) be strengthened, upgraded, and given more attention now that the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) has been created. “The ones that used to be done are not geared towards specific needs of returning OFWs, so we really need to upgrade,” Villanueva said in Filipino. During Wednesday’s hearing October 5, 2022 on the P15.2 billion 2023 proposed budget of the DMW, Villanueva echoed the position of the International Organization for Migration that a successful reintegration program must give opportunity to become self-sufficient, provide access to social network, and address psychosocial health of returning OFWs. “It must be sustainable, measurable, balanced, complementary, and innovative,” he added. DMW Sec. Maria Susana Ople said the reintegration program of the government under the newly created department has included the social preparation for unification of returning OFWs with their families, children, and grandchildren.(Voltaire F. Domingo/Senate PRIB)