Following the resumption of the deployment of household service workers (HSWs) to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Philippine Ambassador to Abu Dhabi Hyayceelyn Quintana expressed optimism that both countries will remain vigilant in ensuring the protection of Filipino workers and promoting their rights.

Quintana made this statement last week as she visited the Tadbeer Center in the UAE capital, the agency task by the Emirati government to handle the recruitment and protection of all household workers in the cosmopolitan Middle Eastern country.

“After seven years, we have successfully resumed the regular and legal deployment of Filipino domestic workers to the UAE. Having been part of the negotiations, I have seen how hard we all worked for this, therefore I am sure that both countries will remain vigilant in ensuring the protection of Filipino workers and their Emirati employers against unscrupulous people intent on violating the rules and trampling on the worker’s rights for profit,” the Philippine envoy said in her message that coincided with the commemoration of the International Labor Day.

The Philippine government halted the deployment of Filipino HSWs in June 2014 after the UAE implemented a policy of suspending contract verification of workers that fall under the HSW category such as nannies, drivers, gardeners, household helpers, among others.

The Philippine Embassy recognizes the important role played by Tadbeer Centers in the resumption of the deployment of domestic workers from the Philippines through a legal and regular pathway, as they will be the only channel for prospective employer-households in the UAE wishing to hire Filipino HSWs in 19 categories.

It was the UAE’s Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE) that introduced Tadbeer service centers to handle all household and domestic workers in the Emirati country.

During the visit, Quintana engaged the officials of the Tadbeer Center-Abu Dhabi led by its Customer Service Manager Mostafa Bakhit in a dialogue concerning the procedures in place for the protection of workers such as living quarters arrangements and training before deployment, as well as grievance settlement mechanisms.

She expressed hope that the Tadbeer Centers will be the Embassy’s close partners in managing Filipino HSWs’ concerns.

The deployment of Filipino HSWs to the UAE resumed on March 30, 2021 after the conclusion of the joint committee meeting between the two countries.

Both the Philippines and the UAE agreed that the new deployment will now be covered by a Unified Employment Contract providing stringent measures to protect Filipino HSWs on the directives of President Duterte.

Under the unified contract, both the employer and the Foreign Recruitment Agencies, and the Philippine Recruitment Agencies are bound by joint and solidary liability should anything happen to the Filipino workers.