Al khobar: The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) is considering the implementation of digital kiosks in future OFW Serbisyo Caravans to enhance service capacity, following a successful event serving nearly a thousand workers in Saudi Arabia over the weekend.
According to Philippines News Agency, Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac announced on Sunday that the proposed digital government service kiosks would complement traditional face-to-face transactions. This initiative follows the seventh leg of the OFW caravan in Al Khobar, held from August 15 to 16, which benefitted approximately 980 OFWs and facilitated 4,492 government services.
The Al Khobar event succeeded the Jeddah leg, which took place from August 8 to 9, where about 1,263 OFWs were served with 4,047 government transactions. Cacdac emphasized that these events align with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s directive to make government services more accessible to Filipinos abroad, noting the strong support from First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, relevant government agencies, and Filipino community groups in Saudi Arabia.
Since its inception in Hong Kong last June, the Bagong Bayani ng Mundo: OFW Serbisyo Caravan has been hosted in several locations including Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Osaka, Japan; Doha, Qatar; Dubai, UAE; and Jeddah and Al Khobar, both in Saudi Arabia. The initiative has so far assisted a total of 11,545 OFWs, completing 29,044 transactions.
The Serbisyo Caravan operates under the administration's One Country Team Approach, a comprehensive government strategy for overseas Filipinos. The most requested services include the issuance of Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) E-cards, national IDs, and civil registry documents such as birth, marriage, and death certificates, as well as Certificates of No Marriage Record.
