OFWs on death row down to 25

The number of death row cases abroad involving overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) has dropped following legal reforms in Malaysia that allowed the commutation of capital punishment sentences.

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

“This has been drastically reduced because in Malaysia, they have a new policy. Should I say, they became flexible in terms of 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.”

Senator Raffy Tulfo, chairman of the Senate Committee on Migrant Workers, commended the DMW for its legal interventions, noting that several convicts had been absolved or had their sentences reduced through the agency’s AKSYON Fund. Around 116 OFWs, meanwhile, have been convicted of various crimes.

Senator Rodante Marcoleta also 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).

This represents a 17 percent increase from their current budget, but remains 44 percent lower than the amount initially sought by the agency.

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

“Your AKSYON fund should be a minimum of five billion. You know why? This is really where the problem of our OFWs lies… they need legal assistance most of the time while they’re there. I know you’re doing your best to increase the number of lawyers helping them… maybe five billion is even an underestimation,” Marcoleta said.

Marcoleta also criticized the allocation of funds for flood control projects during the hearing, stressing that money should be directed to more urgent needs.

“Just think about it, this five billion, for them it’s just one insertion,” he added.

The DMW currently works with 10 in-house lawyers and 23 legal retainers across the Middle East and Gulf states. Cacdac said that since legal fees for local hires are quite costly, the department has focused its resources on countries where legal assistance is most needed, such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, and Israel.

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 that we can hire more lawyers,” Cacdac said, adding that the agency aims to expand its external legal partners by up to 50 percent and double its in-house lawyers by 2026.