Incoming Albay Representative Adrian Salceda is set to file a bill establishing a one-stop reintegration hub for returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) as the 20th Congress opens.
Dubbed the Balikbayani Center, the proposed facility is designed to mirror the concept of the Malasakit Center—but with services tailored to OFWs and their families.
“Balik ka sa bayan — may gobyernong sasalubong,” Salceda said in a Radyo Pilipinas PH report. “This bill will make sure that the first thing our OFWs encounter when they return home is care, not confusion.”
The center will consolidate frontline government services into a single location, including an emergency help desk, at major ports of entry such as NAIA, Cebu, and Davao. Participating agencies will include OWWA, DSWD, DOLE, TESDA, DTI, DOH, and local government units.
“This is not just a policy of convenience—it’s a policy of care,” he emphasized. “We are applying the Malasakit model to labor migration. This is Malasakit for workers who build the homes they don’t get to live in, and for families who waited years for their return.”
Salceda also clarified that the initiative would not create new bureaucratic layers nor introduce additional red tape. Funding will be sourced from the OWWA Trust Fund, Special Purpose Funds of the DSWD and DOLE, and the President’s Socio-Economic Projects Fund.
The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) is expected to take the lead in implementing the program.
