The number of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) on death row abroad has dropped following legal reforms in Malaysia, allowing the commutation of capital punishment sentences.

Secretary Hans Cacdac told senators during the hearing on the proposed 2026 budget of the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) that 25 OFWs currently face the death penalty, down from 50 to 60 in previous years.

“This has been drastically reduced because Malaysia has a new policy. They became flexible in commuting the sentences of our death row cases. Our embassy there applied for the commutation,” Cacdac said.

He added that in coordination with the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Office of the President, the DMW continues to “work quietly” to delay or overturn executions.

“The general legal strategy is to hold the executions at bay; first level, second level to commute, and third level, our countrymen will be released,” he explained.

Senate Committee on Migrant Workers Chair Raffy Tulfo commended the DMW for its legal interventions, citing several convicts who had been absolved or had their sentences reduced through the agency’s AKSYON Fund.

Around 116 OFWs, meanwhile, have been convicted of various crimes.

Sen. Rodante Marcoleta has called for an increase in the DMW’s budget.

For 2026, the Department of Budget and Management has proposed P10.2 billion for the DMW and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), a 17 percent increase from the current allocation but still 44 percent lower than what the agency initially sought.

In September, the DMW appealed to increase the P1.2 billion AKSYON Fund for next year to at least P2.2 billion.

“Your AKSYON Fund should be a minimum of P5 billion. This is where the problem of our OFWs lies — they need legal assistance most of the time while they’re abroad. Maybe P5 billion is even an underestimation,” Marcoleta said.

He also criticized the allocation for flood control projects, emphasizing that funds should go where they are most needed. “Just think about it — this P5 billion, for them, is just one insertion,” he added.

The DMW currently employs 10 in-house lawyers and 23 legal retainers in the Middle East and Gulf states.

Cacdac said the department has focused its resources on countries where legal assistance is most needed, such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon and Israel, due to high local legal fees.

Of the 10 in-house lawyers, four are women assigned to handle sensitive cases involving distressed female workers.

“It would help if the AKSYON Fund could be increased so we can hire more lawyers,” Cacdac said, adding that the agency aims to expand its external legal partners by 50 percent and double its in-house lawyers by 2026.