Following several criticisms  from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) over alleged crowd overflow during the Dubai leg of the Department of Migrant Workers’ (DMW) “Bagong Bayani ng Mundo: OFW Serbisyo Caravan,” the agency is now looking into hybrid set-ups to supplement future caravans. 

In a press briefing on Thursday, Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Cacdac said the agency is coordinating with two firms to aid in the digitization efforts. Among them is the DataFlow group, a provider of Employment Verification Services. 

“We are pilot testing a system with Dataflow where the contract verification transactions are purely online,” Cacdac said. 

The other firm, VFS Global, will assist the DMW in passport processing through the Department of Foreign Affairs, 

The service caravan of DMW in Dubai held last 3 August at the Dubai World Trade Center drew backlash from participants who said the event was ‘unorganized.’ Many OFWs claimed they were left unserved despite queueing early. 

Cacdac acknowledged the said comments surfacing social media, saying that the agency learned from the experience. 

“Mainly, the number of days should be increased, so here in Jeddah, we will be holding it for two days,” Cacdac said. 

“We apologize. I extend our hand of apology to those who were not served on that day.”

He added that crowd control measures were implemented as the venue had a capacity of 6,000. In an advisory on 3 August, DMW said entry to the venue was closed at 9:30 AM. 

Around 5,928 OFWs were provided service during the caravan, while an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 were unable to access services, DMW Undersecretary Dominique Rubia-Tutay said.

Cacdac vowed to hold a second round of services in Dubai with a hybrid set-up to accommodate more Filipinos. 

The OFW Serbisyo Caravan brings together government agencies to provide services for OFWs, including  the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, Department of Foreign Affairs, Social Security System, PhilHealth, Philippine Statistics Authority, PhilSys, PAGIBIG, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Trade and Industry, among others. 

Since July, the caravan has made stops in Hong Kong, Riyadh, Osaka, Doha, and Dubai. Upcoming legs are scheduled for Jeddah on 8 August, Al Khobar on 15 August, Shanghai in September, and Rome in October.