MANILA, 11 September 2004 — President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s reputed “action man” has been appointed chief of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and his promise is to remake the image of the agency such that Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) will be grateful for its existence.
OWWA employees yesterday said Marianito Roque is just the right man to head the agency created to provide welfare and protection to the country’s growing migrant worker population since he rose from the ranks.
They called him an “action man” with regard to OFW welfare issues.
Roque, who was vice chair of the Philippine Council on Reintegration (PhilCORE), a government-NGO partnership on reintegration, said he wishes to focus not only on the agency’s welfare programs but also those creating self-sufficient and self-reliant former OFWs.
“I have grown with the OWWA and my management style should be focused on transparency and perfection of the core programs of the agency for the benefit of the clients,” he said.
Roque said he wants to institute halfway homes for distressed returning OFWs living outside Metro Manila.
“This way, the bayanihan spirit, a touch of Filipino hospitality where visitors are extended the best the host can offer, will be greatly felt by the country’s modern day heroes before they go home to their respective provinces,” he said.
In his 22-year stint in OWWA, Roque reminisced that the agency started with only 17 dedicated employees and as it has grown in leaps and bounds in terms of service to the Filipino workforce contracted to work abroad.
Roque said he draws inspiration on the late Senator Blas Ople, considered to be the ‘father’ of the OFWs’ welfare service and of the Philippine overseas employment program.
“His vast experience in the labor migration industry and the wisdom of concern and love for OFWs shall be my guiding principles in uplifting the conditions of the country’s modern day heroes,” Roque said.
Most former OWWA administrators (Eleuterio Gardiner, Wilhelm Soriano, Virgilio Angelo, etc.) have been political appointees so it is hoped that being an insider, Roque will understand the problems of OFWs more and the general workings of OWWA to boot, OWWA employees said.
He said he will will introduce a new work ethic to the OWWA’s 400 employees, both in the regions and at the job sites, “to the highest degree of performance level.”
“He has a different work style. He's very meticulous and result-oriented, yet he's very approachable," an OWWA employee said.
Others noted that as OWWA director, Roque had always been present during the various crisis recently faced by OFWs. He prominently led the team in the evacuation of more than 40,000 stranded workers during the Gulf War, and served as the officer-in-charge of the OWWA when former Administrator Angelo left for a mission in the Middle East to rescue truck driver Angelo dela Cruz.
Roque, the 10th OWWA chief, is a career official who has been working in government for 29 years, 22 at the OWWA.
As an OWWA director, he was credited for conceptualizing the permanent workers’ ID in order to facilitate transactions, the Repatriation Guarantee Fund Scheme, and the Maritime Refresher courses for Filipino seafarers.
