The OFW Family Club

Brief Background

According to the latest statistics of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), there are now 11 million Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in various parts of the world. They are considered in the Philippines as the “Bagong Bayani” or the New Heroes of the Republic because of their substantial contribution to the economy due to their annual dollar remittances to the Philippines ranging from $15 to $19 billion annually. Each of the 11 million OFWs has at least 3 dependents in the Philippines comprising of their parents, spouses, and children.

The OFW Family Club (OFWFC) was started by the family of Ambassador Roy V. Señeres sometime in the year 2000 after the end of his tour of duty as Ambassador Extra-ordinary and Plenipotentiary (AEP) to the United Arab Emirates (1994-1998). Ambassador Señeres gained prominence due to the cases of OFWs Sarah Balabagan, John Aquino, and Wahida Malaydin who were all sentenced to death by hanging in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E) but were all pardoned and brought home largely due to his efforts.

In view of the prominence, endless streams of families of OFWs continue to this to seek him for assistance on behalf of their distressed relatives overseas, notwithstanding that he is no longer a Philippine diplomat starting 1998. This prompted Ambassador Señeres and his wife Minerva and their 6 children to organize the OFWFC together with some volunteers to systemize their assistance to OFWs and their families. This was what started it all.

Presently, the OFWFC has in its registry, approximately 900,000 card-bearing members with 98 chapters in various provinces, cities, and municipalities in the Philippines, and overseas such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha, Riyadh, Al Khobar, Jeddah, Cyprus, Kuwait, among others.

OFWFC Profile

The OFW Family Club is a non-profit, non-government, private foundation, duly registered with the Security and Exchange Commission, created in accordance with the laws of the Republic, organized by the family of former Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and Chairman of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC), Roy V. Señeres, to cater to the needs of OFWs and their family in the Philippines. The OFWFC is also an active member/affiliate of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) and is registered therein as OFW Family Association-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (OFW/FA-TUCP).  Ambassador Roy Señeres is acknowledged by the 11 million strong OFWs as their hero and protector when through dogged determination, diplomatic expertise and skills, he saved Sarah Balabagan from being executed by a firing squad in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Aside from Sarah Balabagan, Ambassador Roy Señeres (also known as “Amba”), has also saved a roster of distressed OFWs including John Aquino whom he saved from execution in Ajman, U.A.E. Acknowledging Ambassador Señeres’ feat, the London-based World Who’s Who in International Affairs, cited him in 1998 as “a principal figure and leading diplomat in the field of International Relations”.

The OFWFC was organized to fundamentally come to the succor of the thousand of helpless OFWs whose pleas for assistance from their own Embassies and other Government entities in the Philippines are ignored or unheeded, or cavalierly treated.

Mission

The establishment if the OFW Family Club is in furtherance of the Señeres Family tradition of selflessly providing assistance to OFWs and their families in the Philippines. As Ambassador Roy Señeres has always reiterated, “The purpose of life is to empathize, to sympathized, and to help”.

Vision

The OFW Family Club intends to unite the 11 million strong OFWs that they may have strong voice and so that their pleas for help may haunt and awaken the very people whose mission, it is, in the first place, to assist and comfort them.

Objectives the OFWFC

1. We write letters or call up a by long-distance Philippine Ambassadors, Consul Generals, and Labor Attaches in various countries to request for assistance on behalf of distressed OFWs.

2. We assist OFWs and their families with their requests for assistance with the various. Government agencies such as the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), the Social Security System (SSS), the Philhealth, etc.

3. We provide Pre-Deployment Orientation Seminars (PDOS), required by OWWA for departing OFWs, as well as free Pre-Employment Orientation Seminars (PEOS) for applicants seeking overseas employment to help them cope with the culture traditions, customs and relevant laws of their countries of destination. We give guidelines and tips to job-seekers to protect them from becoming victims of illegal recruitment.

4. We provide them with appropriate advice/counseling for the purpose of preserving the unity of their families and solidarity of their marriage.

5. We give advice/counseling to returning migrant workers to smoothly reintegrate them into Philippine social life.

6. We provide free Financial Management seminar to educate OFW families on the culture of savings and investments.

7. We provide free livelihood seminars to family members of OFWs.

8. We provide free legal consultation with the help of our group of volunteers lawyers.

9. We render various public services thru our radio, TV programs and newspaper columns.

10. We conduct free medical and dental missions.

11.We created various support groups to focus on particular areas of concern.

The People behind the OFWFC

Board of Trustees

Minerva M. Señeres
Jay Thomas M. Señeres
Hans Christian M. Señeres
Roy M. Señeres Jr.
Hannah Señeres Francisco
Christine Hazel M. Señeres
Christopher M. Señeres

Officers

Roy M. Señeres Jr.
President and CEO

Minerva M. Señeres
Chairperson

Hannah Señeres-Francisco
Executive Vice President

Christine Hazel M. Señeres
Vice President
President of OFWFC Livelihood Programs

Founder
Ambassador Roy V. Señeres

OFWFC Platform of Government

The OFWFC adheres to the Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines and its duly constituted authorities. It has been organized to advance the interest and protect the right of the OFW Sector. In its 10 years of existence, it has been the champion of the new heroes of the Republic of the Philippines and has provided free legal assistance and other services past, present, and future OFWs in the Philippines and abroad.

The OFWFC shall continue to aspire for the welfare of all OFWs, member and non-members alike. In its extensive experiences in coordinating with various Philippine government agencies and Philippine Embassies and Consulates throughout the world to provide the best possible valuable insight into the intricacies of public service that specifically focuses on the various need of the OFW Sector and their dependents in the Philippines.

It is the OFWFC’s highest conviction that all OFWs should receive all the services and benefits that they are entitled to under the law, without the painful inconveniences and unnecessary expenses usually caused by red tape and bureaucratic delay. The basic philosophy of the OFWFC is that the Modern Day Hero should always be accorded due recognition, appreciation, protection, and respect.

The OFWFC believe that the main responsibility of government is to provide the best quality of life for every Filipino Citizen, whether he or she is in our motherland or abroad. The political and legislative agenda of the OFWFC is to bring about a broad social consciousness of the sacrifices and contributions of the OFW to their families and to the nation at large, so their safety while abroad and the security of their families at home are ensured until their triumphant return to the Philippines.