Roughly 2.2 million overseas Filipino workers passed through the Department of Migrant Workers over the past year, having their contracts vetted and their documentation processed before deployment, according to Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac.
Speaking in a Bagong Pilipinas interview Monday, Cacdac laid out where the agency intends to take its services next: broader digitalization, additional overseas posts in countries hosting large numbers of Filipinos, expanded skills training, and fresh bilateral labor deals with destination governments.
A central piece of that push is the OFW Pass, a digital counterpart to the Overseas Employment Certificate. Cacdac said close to 500,000 have been issued so far through a partnership with the New NAIA Infra Corp., with carriers agreeing to honor the electronic format directly.
“We have partnerships with the airlines also para kinikilala ng airlines, hindi na kailangang i-print out iyong OEC, kikilalanin na ng airlines ang digital version nito,” he said.
The verification of employment contracts has also moved online. A pilot in Dubai handled about 50,000 checks digitally, easing congestion at one of the department’s heaviest-traffic Migrant Workers Offices. Cacdac said the online verification system will be extended to additional Middle Eastern countries and Hong Kong.
On enforcement, the secretary reported 72 illegal recruitment establishments shuttered and 36 anti-human trafficking convictions obtained over roughly the past year, work carried out alongside the Department of Justice and the courts.
“For the last year or so, we have had 72 establishments closed na mga illegal recruitment establishments, 36 ang na-secure na convictions, anti-human trafficking convictions sa Korte, of course, in partnership with the DOJ and courts, Supreme Court at saka Department of Justice,” he said.
Welfare services drew a substantial share of Cacdac’s remarks. The OFW Hospital treats around 80,000 patients yearly on both an out-patient and in-patient basis, with a Cancer Care Center slated to begin operations in 2027. Care extends beyond workers themselves.
“Libre lahat sa ospital whether it’s the OFWs or the immediate dependents, parents or children of the OFW welcome na welcome po dito sa samu’t saring medical services sa OFW Hospital,” he said.
Airport-based support has grown in parallel. OFW Lounges run jointly with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration have handled close to 2 million travelers at NAIA Terminals 1 and 3, with a Mactan-Cebu facility built through the Office of the First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos.
“Sa tulong ito ng Office of the First Lady, si First Lady ay tumulong doon sa pagpapatayo nitong lounge sa Mactan-Cebu Airport,” he said.
A lounge is already running in Zamboanga, and another is planned for Davao City.
The department’s physical footprint abroad continues to widen as well. Cacdac said the 43rd Migrant Workers Office recently opened in Cambodia, with four more expected before the year closes.
Emergency operations tied to the Middle East conflict have brought home 10,500 Filipinos via commercial and chartered flights. Another 18,000 who stayed on despite cut hours and reduced pay received financial aid, and the One Repatriation Command Center has helped more than 30,000 workers since 2022.
On the diplomatic side, the Philippines now holds around 65 bilateral labor agreements, among them a labor cooperation pact signed with Canada’s federal government during President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s stop in Vancouver.
“We are the nation with the most number of labor cooperation agreements with countries hosting our workers, our people,” he said.
New employment channels are opening in Europe. Government-to-government hiring with Croatia has started with an initial batch of roughly 250 hotel workers, a second batch already in process, while talks proceed with Slovenia, Lithuania, and others.
Cacdac also pointed to the country’s current chairmanship of the Abu Dhabi Dialogue, a state-led consultative process linking Asian labor-sending nations with Gulf destinations to advance migrant protection and labor governance.
Reintegration figures prominently in the agency’s plans for the balance of 2026. On Monday, Cacdac signed a Joint Memorandum Circular in Mandaluyong City with Labor Secretary Francis Tolentino, TESDA Director General Jose Francisco “Kiko” Benitez, and OWWA Administrator Patricia Yvonne Caunan to expand the Kaalaman Tungo sa Kabuhayan Initiative, a whole-of-government framework pairing returning workers with competency certification, job placement, and livelihood support.
He tied that effort to the AKSYON Fund, a legal, medical, and financial assistance program he said would see intensified service delivery.
“Iyong three billion pesos na supplemental fund ay pumasok na po at magdi-distribute na po tayong muli,” he said.
