About AssistWELL
The "Assist WELL" Program is a package of reintegration assistance/ services to ensure the successful reintegration of OFWs returning to the country for any of the following reasons:
- End of employment contract
- Decision to stay for good in the country
- Personal health-related reasons
- Repatriation due to crisis/emergency situation in destination countries based on crisis alert level system (political/security situation, civil unrest, disease outbreak)
The 'WELL' in the AssistWELL Program stands for Welfare, Employment, Livelihood, and Legal services.
Embodied in DOLE Department Order No. 139 Series of 2014, the AssistWELL Program had served its purpose during the two political crisis in Libya in 2012 and 2014. To further implement its provisions and to institutionalize it and to ensure its continuity, Secretary RosalindaDimapilis-Baldoz issued Administrative Order No. 21 on January 8, 2016 establishing an AssistWELL Procesing Center in specified DOLE offices/agencies and providing the guidelines to be observed in the Center's operation.
A. Center Management Committee
An Assist WELL Processing Center Management Committee was established composed of the following officials:
- Deputy Administrator Amuerfina R. Reyes, (POEA), Lead
- Deputy Administrator Josefina I. Torres (OWWA), Member
- Executive Director Susan P. DelaRama (TESDA), Member
- Executive Director Chona M. Mantilla (NRCO), Member
- Director Anna Dominique Rubia-Tutay (BLE), Member
- Director AhmmaCharisma Lobrin-Satumba (BWSC), Member
- Labor Attache Joan Lourdes D. Lavilla (ILAB), Member
- DOLE Regional Directors, Members
POEA Administrator Hans Leo J. Cacdacwas tasked to provide overall supervision inensuring the smooth and effective operation of the Centers.
B. Location and Manning of the Center
The Center operates during both emergency and normal times. At the National Capital Region, a Center was established in the following offices:
- Philippine Overseas Employment Administration
- Overseas Workers Welfare Administration
- National Reintegration Center for OFWs
In cases of emergency, or threat of emergency/crisis where there could be imminentmass repatriation of OFWs, the following offices were instructed to identify and deploy organic personnel to man these Centers and provide technical and administrative support:
- Philippine Overseas Employment Administration
- Overseas Workers Welfare Administration
- Technical Education and Skills Development Authority
- National Reintegration Center for OFWs
- Bureau of Local Employment
- Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns
- International Labor Affairs Bureau
- DOLE Planning Service
- DOLE National Capital Region
During normal times, the deployment of organic personnel to these Centers may be scaled down depending on the actual demand for services of returning OFWs.
Outside the NCR, a Center was established at each of the DOLE Regional Offices. The Center in the regions is supervised by the DOLE RegionalDirector and composed of designated technical and administrative personnelof concerned Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) member agencies, as follows:
- DOLE Regional Office
- POEA Regional Center/Extension Office
- POEA Regional Center/Extension Office
- TESDA Regional Office
- NRCO
- Other RCC Office Members, as may be necessary
The DOLE and the Presidential Communications Operations Office launched the Center on February 5, 2016. Since then, there were 20 Processing Centers established and OFWs returning home for various reasons are being registered or enrolled in the Center's e-AssitWELL Registry, an internet-based system that tracks the AssistWELL Program implementation and the Processing Centers' operation.
