The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is set to resume the full operations of its flagship One-Stop Service Center for Overseas Filipino Workers (OSSCO) here.

Raymundo Agravante, DOLE-Region 12 director, said Tuesday they are currently coordinating with various concerned agencies for the restoration of the facility’s services after it was forced to scale down last year due to the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

He said its member-agencies that opted to cancel their physical operations and shifted to online engagement due to the Covid-19 restrictions already agreed to return to the OSSCO, which is located at the fourth level of the city hall building here.

“It will undergo a simple yet decent renovation in the coming days in preparation for its bigger and complex operations starting April,” he told reporters.

Agravante and other officials of the participating agencies recently conducted an ocular visit of the facility and crafted strategies to further improve its operations.

The OSSCO here, which opened in 2016, involves 14 national line agencies and units that provide various front-line services to prospective and existing overseas workers.

These are the Department of Foreign Affairs, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Professional Regulatory Commission, Maritime Industry Authority, Pag-Ibig Fund, Philippine National Police, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, Social Security System, Philippine Statistics Authority, Bureau of Immigration, National Bureau of Investigation, Commission on Higher Education, and Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.

Agravante said the agency will assign additional personnel to assist agencies providing online services.

He said the Public Employment Service Office-Koronadal has pledged to deploy workers who will assist in the monitoring of the clients.

“We will improve the physical facilities of the OSSCO and develop an online referral system for its transactions,” he said.
Agravante said they will continue to introduce more innovations later to further bring the facility’s services closer to their clients, especially the overseas workers who were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. (PNA)