The Department of Migrant Workers-National Capital Region (DMW-NCR) has rescued 519 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) after closing down 24 unregistered accommodation facilities across Metro Manila due to unsafe and inhumane conditions.
The facilities have been ordered closed following a series of welfare checks, site inspections, and shutdown operations conducted by DMW-NCR agents.
Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo J. Cacdac commended the crackdown, emphasizing that strict enforcement is essential to protecting the health, safety, and rights of deployment-bound workers.
“If the accommodation is not registered, it is illegal. Therefore, we can come in and inspect. And if the condition is inhumane, mayroon tayong awtoridad na ipasara (we have the authority to close it down),” Cacdac stated.
Under existing labor standards, registered private recruitment agencies are legally required to provide safe, adequate, and fully compliant lodging for their workers while travel papers and overseas deployments are being finalized.
Cacdac reiterated that the government will not tolerate unauthorized facilities that compromise worker welfare, emphasizing that the housing crackdown aligns with directives from President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to enhance protection services for Filipino migrant workers and their families.