The Department of Labour and Employment (DOLE) has created a new digital platform, OASIS.
The platform will facilitate the better and faster delivery of services for returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), a press release stated.
Earlier this week, at the Laging Handa public briefing, the Labour and Employment Assistant Secretary said that the OFW Assistance Information System (OASIS) is a tracking system for returning OFWs for repatriation and support.
The system was created to ensure the efficient and timely assistance for returning OFWs during the pandemic.
By signing up, OFWs provide the necessary information for different partner agencies to properly respond to their needs and provide appropriate services like repatriation assistance, COVID testing, quarantine facilities, and transportation needs.
For OFWs who do not have a stable internet connection, there is a downloadable form on the website.
Users must download, fill out, and submit the form to labour officers that will encode their information on the department’s database.
For recently repatriated OFWs, the department is already processing their information and assessing their needs, the release stated.
The department has assured that all information provided by the OFWs at the OASIS will be used in accordance with the Data Privacy Act of 2012.
The system was created in partnership with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA). OFWs bound for home need to sign up online at the official website.
Also, in line with the government’s plan to digitise its procedures, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has announced it will maximise the use of online platforms in assisting micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Central Luzon.
The DTI Regional Director, Judith Angeles, said that they will continue to promote business development in the countryside by instituting technology-driven support to MSMEs such as online learning tools and webinars.
The department is also promoting contactless trading through the Bagsakan trade fair system where selling is done online, a press release said.
Due to the community quarantine, the physical registration of a business name (BN) has been hindered. Therefore, DTI created a platform, the BN Registration System, where the process can be fully done online. Payment for a business name certificate can be done through GCash, Paymaya, and other online payment services, the Regional Director added.
In April, when the entire region was under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), DTI only had 182 registrations that were carried out online. From the figure, 170 were new BNs while 12 were renewals.
Last month, as restrictions were gradually eased under the modified ECQ and general community quarantine (GCQ), the numbers had significantly risen to a total of 1,498 BN registrations.
Nueva Ecija had the greatest number of BN registrations during the period with 378 followed by Pampanga (322), Tarlac (268), Bulacan (214), Zambales (133), Aurora (104), and Bataan (79).
As of June, as several provinces in the region shift to modified GCQ, initial figures show about 182 BN registrations, the release noted.