The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) is preparing to expand its legal workforce this year, focusing on countries where overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) most frequently seek legal assistance, as pressure mounts from recruitment stakeholders to reform how labor disputes are handled abroad.
DMW Secretary Hans J. Cacdac said the agency intends to deploy more lawyers to locations with the heaviest caseloads, citing Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and possibly Hong Kong as priority areas. He made the statement during a recent year-end press briefing.
“So we will increase cases, lawyers especially where there are high volume cases like Saudi Arabia, UAE [United Arab Emirates] and perhaps Hong Kong,” Cacdac said in a Business Mirror report.
Initial DMW figures for 2025 deployments show Saudi Arabia and the UAE remain the top destinations for land-based OFWs as of October, each hosting roughly 340,000 workers. Hong Kong ranked fourth, with more than 168,000 deployed Filipinos.
Cacdac said the department has handled around 3,000 cases requiring legal intervention through its Agarang Kalinga at Saklolo para sa mga OFWs na Nangangailangan (AKSYON) Fund. While most cases stem from labor disputes, he noted that a significant number also involve criminal charges.
To respond to the demand, the DMW plans to grow its current roster of 35 legal retainers and in-house lawyers, though the increase will be targeted rather than across-the-board.
“It is not necessarily to double the 35, but to increase the number of lawyers where they are needed such as those where there are high volume cases,” he said.
The agency said its legal efforts have contributed to a decline in the number of OFWs facing capital punishment overseas. At present, 24 Filipinos remain under death sentence abroad, with 13 cases in the Asia-Pacific region and 11 in the Middle East.
Beyond manpower concerns, recruitment industry representatives are calling for structural changes to how disputes are resolved. LBS E-Solutions Corp. President Lito B. Soriano argued that simply adding lawyers would not address what he described as systemic weaknesses in the current framework.
Soriano is pushing for the DMW to establish its own version of the Single Entry Approach (SENA), a conciliation and mediation mechanism institutionalized under Republic Act No. 10396 and implemented by the Department of Labor and Employment. The program aims to resolve labor disputes without resorting to formal litigation.
According to Soriano, the absence of a similar system within the DMW allows labor disputes involving land-based OFWs to be settled between foreign employers and Philippine recruitment agencies (PRAs), rather than holding employers directly accountable.
He said foreign employers are often accredited with multiple PRAs, enabling them to disengage from one agency facing complaints while continuing to recruit through others.
“There is no pressure on their part since they can continue to recruit even if they have a hundred complaints from one [Philippine recruitment] agency because he has another four agencies. So that is the weakness of the policy…If they will file a disciplinary action against a foreign employer, the government will say it is a money matter and it should be between the agency and the foreign employer,” Soriano said in Filipino.
Soriano also pointed out that records from conciliation efforts conducted by Migrant Workers Offices cannot be formally used because such proceedings are not sworn statements from both parties. As a result, he said, recruitment agencies often end up settling claims with workers themselves instead of pursuing action against foreign employers.
“So what I am advocating is for DMW to adopt its own SENA program. As much as possible we should increase the settlement of cases on the job site,” he said.
Soriano said he has already conveyed the proposal to Cacdac, who signaled openness to reviewing the recommendation.
