Photo courtesy of TINGOG Party-list.
TACLOBAN CITY – Tingog party-list Representative and House Overseas Workers Affairs committee chair Jude Acidre hailed the signing of a landmark Joint Administrative Order (JAO) on balikbayan boxes, calling it “a victory for every OFW family.”
Speaking during the flag ceremony at the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Central Office in Mandaluyong City on Monday, June 16, Acidre said, “Today, we will witness the signing of a Joint Administrative Order that will fix long-standing regulatory issues and restore the dignity of a tradition that means so much to Filipino families.”
The JAO, signed by key agencies including the Departments of Finance, Trade, Transportation, and Migrant Workers, the Bureau of Customs, and others, aims to strengthen regulation of sea cargo forwarders, eliminate abusive practices, and ensure safe and timely delivery of balikbayan boxes.
Acidre, who pushed for the reform following complaints from OFWs, stressed: “Behind every remittance is a longing. Behind every tear is a strength the world doesn’t always recognize.”
Reflecting on his 13 months as committee chair, Acidre said his work was grounded in listening to the experiences of overseas Filipinos. “This has been one of the most meaningful and rewarding roles I’ve ever been entrusted with in Congress,” he said.
Among his key initiatives were a harmonized reintegration policy under the proposed Bagong Balikbayan Act; micro-credentialing of OFW skills via the ETEEAP; access to distance learning for OFWs; anti-ambulance chasing provisions in the Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers; development of an OFW pension system; establishment of an OFW Global Center in Hong Kong; a digital one-stop shop for government services; and rehabilitation of the National Maritime Polytechnic.
He also cited three major laws under his leadership: the Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers, the OFW Remittance Protection Act, and the Financial Literacy for OFWs Act.
Acidre thanked Speaker Martin Romualdez for his trust and DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac for his partnership. “This isn’t just my legislative work. This is now my personal commitment,” he said.
“Because at the heart of every policy, every law, every reform—we must remember that our OFWs are not just workers. They are people. They are family.”
(LIZBETH ANN A.ABELLA)
