SEN. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go has urged fellow senators to support the passage of the bill that seeks to create the Department of Overseas Filipinos (DOFil) as the Senate resumes session today.

In a radio interview on Saturday, Go renewed his appeal, saying the House of Representatives already approved a counterpart measure.

Senate Bill (SB) 1949, or the DOFil Act of 2020, seeks to safeguard the rights and promote the welfare of over 10 million overseas Filipinos.

Go noted more than 500,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who lost their jobs due to the pandemic had returned home.

“We call them modern-day heroes. Let us give them a [specific] department that will focus on them,” he said in Filipino.

“The government must adapt to the changing times in order to become more efficient and responsive to the needs of Filipinos,” he said.

SB 1949 was the third version of a measure Go first filed in July of 2019. The bill creating DOFil is one of the Duterte administration’s priority measures.

The DOFil will formulate, recommend and implement national policies, plans, programs and guidelines that protect overseas Filipinos.

It will be responsible for providing social and welfare services, including insurance, social work assistance and legal assistance, as well as administer reintegration and social service programs to overseas Filipinos.

The agency will also provide assistance to nationals services, especially during times of national emergencies, such as pandemic or war.

Go has raised the need to bring together all government responsibilities concerning overseas Filipinos into one department so decisions and actions can be made in the most expedient, most efficient and most responsive mechanism possible.

He proposed that OFWs bound for deployment abroad be considered as part of essential sectors to be vaccinated.