Philippines (see also Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Brunei, Malaysia, New Zealand, Other Pacific)
Deployment of OFWs drops
The Philippines Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) reported an 11 percent-drop in the deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the first quarter of the year. Deployment was 280,605 in the first three months of 2006 compared with 249,681 during the same period in 2007. The number of contracts processed for OFWs decreased by 8.4 percent for the same period – 291,755 contracts were processed this year compared with 318,474 last year. Labor Secretary Arturo Brion attributed the drop partially to POEA’s new guidelines on the deployment of domestic workers, i.e., doubling of the minimum monthly wage to $400, increasing the minimum age to 23 and requiring prospective domestic workers to undertake training and language proficiency tests. The decline in Hong Kong and Taiwan is especially notable. During her recent visit to Taiwan, POEA Administrator Rosalinda Baldoz looked into the drop in deployments and POLO reports that Taiwanese agencies have rejected the “no placement fee policy." Emmanuel S. Geslani, a consultant of several Manila-based recruitment agencies, said that agencies have not received job orders from the Middle East since March. He added that the deployment rate is likely to worsen unless the regulations are scrapped. The local recruitment industry strongly protested against the new policy, claiming it could lead to virtual closure of the market for Filipino domestic workers. They also warned of a further drop in overseas deployment due to the new hiring policy in Saudi Arabia. Secretary Brion maintained that the drop in deployment is just temporary and that POEA continues to receive numerous job orders for domestic workers.
Meanwhile, skilled and professionals workers comprised the majority of OFWs deployed in the first three months of this year; production workers topped the list. The increased deployment in production workers and other professionals compensated for the drop in the hiring of domestic workers.
In view of lower deployment levels, POEA Administrator Rosalinda Baldoz and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) chief Augusto Syjuco allegedly went to Taiwan to discuss the possibility of increasing the labor quota for the Philippines. Another report cites that Baldoz’s visit was to prepare for an upcoming meeting between the two countries’ labor officials. During her visit to Taiwan, Baldoz learned of Taiwan’s plan to increase the monthly salary of domestic workers and factory workers from $400 to $700 in the near future to be competitive with other labor importing countries.
South Korea increased quota for OFWs
Contrary to reports that South Korea is planning to limit the entry of Filipino workers, Korea’s Ministry of Labor increased the job roster quota of the Philippines from 10,000 in 2006 to 12,000 in 2007. The Philippines got the highest quota among 14 labor sending countries to Korea. POEA Administrator Rosalinda Baldoz said the increased quota indicates Korea’s growing confidence in Filipino workers and the competence of government agencies to meet the terms of the MOU between Korea and the Philippines.
More Filipinos deployed to the US and Canada
The number of Filipino workers deployed to the US and Canada doubled in 2006, said Labor Secretary Arturo Brion. Based on data from the department’s Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics, Brion said total OFW deployment to the US increased from 4,128 in 2005 to 11,406 in 2006; for Canada, it grew from 3,629 to 6,413 during the same period.
Labor pact to deploy health professionals to Libya
Labor Secretary Arturo Brion said the government is negotiating an agreement with Libya for the deployment of Filipino health professionals. Brion said there is already an existing agreement on labor recruitment between the two countries signed in July 2006, but the Philippines is awaiting Libya’s response on the proposal to involve the private sector in the recruitment of Filipino workers. Libya proposed a government-to-government arrangement.
Saudi Arabia’s new rules will affect deployment
Starting 16 April, all Filipinos applying to work in Saudi Arabia, except domestic workers, are required to submit their old passports together with their visa applications. Workers who had previously worked in Saudi Arabia and are returning to the country to work under new companies and contracts are required to have a “No Objection Certificate (NOC)" stamped in their old passports. Observers said these new rules would drastically reduce the number of Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia since only a few employers agree to issue an NOC to departing migrant workers. The new rules also require local agencies to appoint Saudi-based recruitment agencies for the attestation of their visa authority from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Saudi Chamber of Commerce. For those who have not issued passports, they are required to submit a certificate from the Department of Foreign Affairs indicating that they have not been issued a passport. The new rules are in response to complaints from Saudi firms over runaway workers.
Options to foreign domestic work
The government is trying to discourage female workers from working as domestic workers abroad as part of protective measures to reduce incidents of exploitation – non-payment of salaries, non-compliance with employment contracts and different sorts of maltreatment. According to Consul General Antonio Curameng, the majority of labor problems the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Dubai deals with involve domestic workers who have run away from their exploitative employers. The Philippine Consulate in Dubai is preparing for the repatriation of 65 runaway workers. Labor attache Virginia Calvez said that the repatriates have three options in the Philippines: they can apply again for overseas jobs or start their own business or learn entrepreneurship while staying home. OWWA offers skills-training to help women secure professional jobs and loans to help them start a business.
Training for overseas domestic workers, caregivers
The Labor Department announced that Filipinos seeking overseas jobs as domestic workers can get skills training and assessment for free at some 13 TESDA training institutions nationwide from 20 April. Earlier, the government was accused of introducing the training requirement to exact profit from the jobseekers. Labor Secretary Arturo Brion said the free training and assessment will dispel such accusations.
In collaboration with partner caregiver schools, TESDA launched customized caregiver courses following Canadian standards. The move is in line with training globally competitive caregivers for overseas employment. TESDA will conduct mandatory practical and knowledge assessment in order to ensure quality graduates.
Seafarer receives an award
Seafarer Jesus Summok, 35, received special gratitude and financial reward of P170,000 from the Swedish merchant marine foundation for saving the life of a Swedish worker on board the vessel Saga Spray in Helsingborg. The ceremony was held at the DOLE office in Intramuros, Manila.
Domestic workers in Syria need help
The Blas F. Ople Policy Center called on the government to send a humanitarian team to investigate the plight of Filipino domestic workers in Syria. It also recommended the opening of an embassy in the country given the growing number of Filipino workers in Syria, many of whom are vulnerable to exploitation of foreign agents and their employers due to their illegal status. An estimated 6,000 Filipinos are working in Syria; most of them are allegedly victims of human trafficking in the Middle East.
Workers defy Iraq ban
In spite of the deployment ban, thousands of Filipinos still manage to enter Iraq through illegal means. Some 5,000 Filipinos entered Iraq and their number is growing. Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Esteban B. Conejos, Jr. reaffirmed the government’s ban on the deployment of Filipinos to Iraq. The government imposed the ban in 2004 due to violence in Iraq and the abduction of Angelo de la Cruz.
Stranded OFWs repatriated
Hundreds of Filipino workers stranded in Middle East countries after fleeing abusive employers are to be repatriated as part of the government’s ongoing repatriation program which started since President Arroyo’s visit to Saudi Arabia in 2006. On 24 April, 108 repatriates from Saudi Arabia and 16 from Lebanon arrived in Manila. The OWWA funded the air fares of the repatriates at $1,009 each. Labor Secretary Arturo Brion said another batch of 271 OFWs stranded in Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries will be repatriated. President Arroyo greeted the repatriates at the Manila airport and assured them of a reintegration program that involves free training on entrepreneurship and other livelihood courses. Some 400 OFWs are still stranded in Filipino Worker Resource Centers in the Middle East.
Remains of Filipino worker to be brought home
The two sons of Felisa Garcia arrived in New York to take their mother’s body to be buried in the Philippines. Garcia, a domestic worker, was found dead in her Bronx home on 14 March. The New York Police Department and Philippine Consulate were criticized for mishandling the initial investigation and lack of consideration for alerting her family in Batangas. Garcia’s family still doubts the New York Police Department’s conclusion that Garcia committed suicide. Garcia’s two sons were able to secure US visas and raise money for roundtrip airfare through the assistance of the Philippine Forum, an 11-year community organization in Queens. The group called on the Philippine government to standardize financial, legal and other forms of assistance to OFWs.
Illegal recruitment cases
Ruth Hubahib, accused of collecting thousands of pesos from three high school teachers in exchange for high-paying but non-existent jobs in Dubai, was arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation. Hubahib promised the victims high-paying teaching jobs in Dubai in 2006 and asked them to pay P70,000 each for placement and processing fees. One of the three left for Dubai in June 2006 only to discover that there was no job waiting for her. NBI agents are still looking for Hubahib’s alleged accomplice, a woman identified as Theodora Pillas.
The POEA ordered the cancellation of the recruitment license of PMAC International Management Services Inc. Its officers and directors will not be allowed to engage in the recruitment and placement of OFWs. It was charged with violating Section 2(a) and (b) of Rule VI of the POEA rules. The PMAC charged 65 job seekers $1,000 to $2,000 for speeding up the processing of their documents and immediate departure in one to two months. PMAC was also ordered to pay a fine of P60,000 and refund the money received from the complainants.
Police have identified a number of foreigners, mostly from Middle East countries, who have allegedly tied up with legitimate local recruitment agencies to victimize Filipino job seekers.
Suspected human trafficker nabbed
Leah Taclan, suspected of illegally recruiting 12 people from Mindanao to work in Manila, was arrested by the Coast Guard and detained at the Manila North Harbor. The suspect will be charged for human trafficking while the 12 victims will be sent to the Visayan Forum Foundation for temporary shelter and assistance.
Corruption at the airport
Alfonso Cusi, the general manager of the Manila International Airport Authority is part of the government’s counter-trafficking task force; denied the involvement of airport personnel in human trafficking. Cusi also rejected the accusation that the escort service at the airport that is open to anyone who will pay a fee of P800 is in fact used as a means to sneak out passengers with invalid documents. The National Police Commission (Napolcom) said the cost of trafficking one person out of the country is between P1,000 and P400,000; a large part of the costs is used to bribe government personnel.
Support for OFWs’ tax exemption
Filipinos in Bahrain have expressed concern over a recent announcement by the Philippine Bureau of Internal Revenue to take away the tax exemption enjoyed by highly-paid OFWs. A similar plan to collect more revenues in 2004 had to be withdrawn due to protests by OFWs and their families.
Meanwhile, senatorial candidate Mike Defensor vows to push for a bill that will reinforce the tax exempt privilege of OFWs. He urged the next Congress to require the POEA to produce an admissible “proof of personal income" for OFWs as earlier proposed by the Trade Union Congress. The labor group earlier complained that OFWs and their families find it difficult to secure bank loans because they do not possess any Philippine income tax returns.
Remittance increased 22.58 percent
Remittances from Filipino migrant workers have reached $2.18 billion in the first two months of the year, or 22.58 percent higher than the $1.8 billion in the same period a year earlier. In February alone, remittances soared by 25.4 percent to $1.09 billion. The Bangko Sentral ng Philipinas (BSP) credited the growth of remittances to the expansion of bank networks and their enhanced and efficient financial services to migrant workers and their beneficiaries. Another factor is the demand for higher-skilled and better-paid Filipino workers abroad. The BSP notes that enhanced products and services introduced in recent years, such as phone and Internet banking, lower service charges and the establishment of more remittance centers abroad, encouraged OFWs to send remittances through the banks. Projected remittances this year are estimated to reach $14.04 billion.
Ombudsman asked to investigate the e-passport project
The College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP), an alliance of more than 700 college student newspaper from more than 500 schools around the country, is asking the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate the P2-billion e-Passport project of the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. The CEGP accused the two authorities of intentionally postponing the machine-readable passport.
Low voter turnout
As of 27 April, 14 days into the 30-day period for overseas absentee voting (OAV), the total ballots received from polling places around the world stood at 16,104 or merely 3.19 percent of the 504,122 registered voters. Only 25 of the 18,404 registered Filipino seafarers have cast their votes in the first 11 days since overseas absentee voting started. The Commission on Elections (COMELC) hoped that this year’s turnout will reach at least 65 percent, such as the turnout during the 2004 elections. Given the low turnout, the DFA-OAV Secretariat has revised its projections.
Philippine embassies and consulates have launched various activities to encourage registered overseas Filipinos to cast their votes, but various problems surrounded the conduct of OAV. An official of the DFA admitted that postal voting has failed because the missions abroad did not receive the ballots on time and failed to update the voters’ addresses. In some countries, like Italy and Cambodia, overseas Filipinos did not receive the ballots on time. Grace Punongbayan, coordinator of Migrante-Europe, a network of Filipino organizations across Europe, said her office in Amsterdam has received complaints from Rome and Geneva about the delay of ballots and the lack information on the senatorial candidates and party-list groups. Ellen Sana, executive director of the Center of Migrants’ Advocacy cited the inconvenient registration process that requires overseas Filipinos to report to the Philippine diplomatic posts. She added overseas voters had lost interest and trust in the country’s elections especially since the last elections that manipulated the results. In the case of seafarers, Leo Santiago of Maritime Forum cited the nature of the seafarers’ work and the distance of the ports where their ships dock and the voting posts; for these reasons, Maritime Forum has been advocating for electronic registration and voting since the 2004 polls. Senator Richard Gordon accused COMELEC of failing to conduct an appropriate information campaign to encourage migrant workers to exercise their voting rights. The COMELEC attributed the low turnout to the “last-minute syndrome" and the affidavit of intent to return to the Philippines.
Senator Edgardo Angara stressed the need to amend the Overseas Voting Act to encourage more overseas Filipinos to exercise their right to vote, noting only some 500,000 out of the eight million overseas Filipinos are registered voters. COMELEC will recommend abolishing the mandatory affidavit requiring a voter to return to the Philippines to take up permanent residence no later than three years after the approval of his or her registration as an absentee voter. Commissioner Florentino Tuason Jr. and President Arroyo also acknowledged the affidavit as the main reason for the low registration and turnout.
OFWs rallied to end discrimination suit
Over 200 OFWs leaders staged a rally outside the Supreme Court, upholding the right to life and property of 1,975 Filipino migrant workers victimized by American employers. They asked the court to decide on their 24-year-old discrimination suit. The workers claimed they were discriminated and deprived of back wages and compensation while working in construction and engineering project in Bahrain and the UAE from the 1970s to the 1990s.
Affordable hotel for OFWs
The government has launched an affordable and secure hotel in Manila called Gwapotel (Handsome Hotel) for arriving OFWs and businessmen from the provinces. Admission will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
Labor Department to hold a job fair
The Labor Department will hold a job fair at Rizal Park, Manila on 1 May; some 130 local employers and 20 overseas recruitment agencies were invited. Overseas vacancies include aircon technicians, welders, artists, electricians, construction workers, fast food personnel, engineers, safety officers, nurses, secretaries and other office staff, heavy equipment drivers and store personnel. Job seekers will also get free legal, medical and welfare assistance and other services from DOLE agencies.
Filipinos in Virginia Tech are safe
More than a hundred Filipinos and Filipino-Americans currently enrolled at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia are all safe and coping well in the aftermath of the 16 April shooting incident that left 32 people dead. Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year-old English major at Virginia Tech, killed himself following the shootings.
Retirement village for expats, foreigners
The Philippine Retirement Authority launched a project to build a retirement community in Nasugbu, Batangas aimed at accommodating foreigners and Filipino expatriates wishing to retire in the country.
US issues travel advisory
The US released a new travel advisory warning American citizens of the dangers of traveling to the Philippines days after the murder of US Peace Corps volunteer Julia Campbell in Banaue, Ifugao. The State Department said that travelers should exercise extreme caution in central and western Mindanao and in the Sulu archipelago, citing the abduction of two American children outside their home in Tagum, Davao del Norte. American travelers, according to the advisory, should also be aware of possible terror attacks by Islamic militants.
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