As a new milestone in the Filipino global diaspora, the first-ever major nominee of a party-list aspiring to represent the 2.33 million Overseas Filipino workers (OFW’s) sector in the Philippine House of representatives, who is currently an active OFW, will be coming from Qatar.
Doha-based realtor, OFW advocate, broadcast journalist, business consultant and former community events organiser Joseph Timothy Rivera has been chosen as the 4th nominee of the Advocates & Keepers Organization of OFWs (AKO OFW) Inc. under the party-list system of the upcoming Philippine national & local midterm elections slated on May 12, 2025.
Rivera took his oath at the Philippine Embassy in Doha on September 25, 2024, for the authentication of his Certificate of Nomination & Acceptance (CONA) which was then filed at the Commission of Elections (COMELEC) on October 7, 2024, by AKO OFW Party-list’s founding chairman and first nominee Dr. Celerino Umandap.
Rivera’s legislative agenda is strongly rooted from his decades long experience as a Filipino expatriate in Qatar. His proposed landmark bills are mostly inspired by Qatar’s highly effective social, political, civic and economic policies which he believes will help build a better Philippines such as the digitalization of all financial transactions with and within the government, stronger tax collection, the mandatory fail-proof National ID system, strict communications regulation, upscaling discipline with stricter fines for misdemeanors and felonies, further arming of laws against financial crimes, real modern socialized healthcare, strong cybercrime laws in fighting misinformation and fake news and a moral recovery program that criminalizes unjust vexation and the mere use of foul language even through digital means.
Rivera also praised the Qatar model for economic zones to attract more foreign investments thus generating more jobs locally. He further gives emphasis on the upgrading of salaries & wages of government officials & civil servants to world standards similar to that of the UK & Singapore as a necessary step towards the eradication of graft & corruption in government.
"Given the opportunity, we will also be pushing our years-long advocacies for priority legislation beyond anti-human trafficking & illegal recruitment as we would also focus on the expansion of OFW Hospitals / Hospital wings, establishment of OFW housing schemes, improvement of OFW dependent medical care, and upgrading of OFW reintegration initiatives covering skills training, dependent scholarships & No-Collateral Livelihood programs for OFWs and former OFWs Rivera added.
Having no objection to his nomination from the public as of the closing of the COMELEC’s prescribed period for disqualifyingnominees of party lists, Rivera assured all Filipino expatriates in Qatar that he will continue his commitment in assisting the Philippine government in providing much needed assistance to Filipino migrant workers and for the enhancement of AKO OFW’s advocacies in improving the lives and welfare of OFWs.
Heis expected to join the campaign in the Philippines and in other countries outside of Qatar where political activities are allowed when the official campaign period starts on February 11, 2025.
Rivera is an alumni of the Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship (ALSE-OF-LIFE) program of the Ateneo School of Government and took up business administration studies from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines and holds an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities from the Instituto Educando Para A Paz. He also served in government as a consultant to the board & special advisor to the Director General of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) for the Middle East that bestowed him as one of the 2021 PEZA Galing Pinas Awardees.
AKO OFW now has more than 186,000 active members worldwide with active chapters in almost every province in the Philippines and 44 overseas chapters including Qatar.