The proposed creation of the Migrant Workers Relations Commission (MWRC) would squarely address issues being raised over the money claims of Filipino migrant workers and seafarers that impact their desirability as employees in the eyes of foreign principals.

Kabayan Partylist Rep. Ron Salo on Tuesday made the assurance on DAILY TRIBUNE’s digital show Usapang OFW amid reports that ambulance-chasing lawyers are creating problems in the seafaring sector.

Salo revealed that seafarers are the favorite targets of the said lawyers, who, however, pocket most of the proceeds from money claims decided in their favor by the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) and the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB).

If Salo’s House Bill creating the MWRC is passed into law, the said commission would take over the functions of the NLRC and NCMB when it comes to the money claims of OFWs, whether land-based or sea-based.

Salo revealed that the NLRC awarded P2 billion and the NCMB P4 billion to OFWs, but that P2 billion of the total P6 billion had been overturned or reduced by the courts.

The problem is, according to the lawmaker, is that the money that had been awarded could no longer be returned by the OFWs because they had already spent the same, or the lawyers have gotten the lion’s share of the awards.

“Currently, the NLRC’s view is that, because they are under the DoLE, whose concern is domestic employment, the treatment of the cases should be the same whether domestic or overseas,” he said.