The Philippines earned international praise at the 10th Vienna Migration Conference in Austria for its strong leadership in ethical labor migration and commitment to protecting overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
Speaking at the high-level panel “Migration as an Engine of Development in Countries of Origin – What Is Needed?”, Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said the country’s migration framework rests on three pillars — protection, empowerment, and reintegration — ensuring that OFWs are supported before deployment, while abroad, and upon their return.
“We have a strong legal heritage and history of compassion insofar as labor is concerned,” Cacdac said. “We vowed to protect labor, a forward protection to labor clause in our Constitution. We’re one of the first, as I understand, to put this in our supreme law.”
Cacdac emphasized that the Philippines’ approach is not about exporting labor but empowering people through skills, rights-based deployment, and opportunities that benefit both workers and the nation.
He said the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) champions ethical recruitment, quick welfare response systems, and lifelong learning programs that equip OFWs with global skills in digital literacy, languages, and professional certification.
Cacdac also cited the country’s long-standing partnerships with host nations such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and ASEAN neighbors to enhance labor mobility and worker protection.
“When workers are skilled and informed, they are empowered,” he added.
Conference participants hailed the Philippines as a global model for labor-sending nations, with one delegate describing it as “a superpower among labor-sending countries.”