DUBAI: Philippine president Rodrigo R. Duterte on Thursday signed into law a measure establishing a department for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). The President earlier certified the bill as urgent in May, and was one his campaign promises during his candidacy in 2016. The upper legislative chamber, the Senate, managed to pass a version only earlier this month while the lower chamber, the House of Representatives, had already approved a counterpart measure in March last year. “The establishment of Department of Migrant Workers happens on the celebration of Rizal Day when we honor not only the exceptional love of country of Dr. Jose Rizal, but also the patriotism, excellence, and courage of our modern-day heroes including overseas Filipinos,” Duterte said after signing the law. The measure is expected to benefit some 10 million Filipinos working overseas, of which one in five of them are employed in the Middle East with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar among the major labor-hosting countries. “We have so many OFWs in the Middle East, especially in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. You are probably talking of about 2.5 million to 3 million overseas Filipino workers, and when it comes to their welfare and interest, and their safety, it is best that there is an agency that will be fully focused on their welfare and protection,” labor secretary Silvestre H. Bello III earlier told Arab News. Under the newly signed measure, the department will absorb the functions of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and will be tasked to protect the rights of migrant workers. The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, another OFW-related government body, will stand as an attached agency. The department will also regulate overseas employment and the reintegration of Filipino workers. Filipinos working abroad sent about $33.19 billion in personal remittances last year, representing 9.2 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, amid challenges facing them particularly job losses due to the coronavirus pandemic.