A labor official has dismissed the proposal of the newly-created Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) to lift the ban on the deployment of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in some parts of the Middle East.
Labor Attache Alejandro Padaen, of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Lebanon, said the DMW should "consult first the people on the ground" and “carefully study the situation in the destination countries” before they make new policy pronouncements.
Padaen cited the case in Lebanon where he said the country is still reeling from the political and economic turmoil it experienced in recent years. This resulted in the failure between both countries to reach an agreement on a standard labor contract especially those covering the domestic workers, he noted.
“Considering the economic aspect, it may not be the right time yet to deploy new hires in Lebanon. Several companies have closed down and we have not been deploying household service workers since 2007,” Padaen said in a statement on Sunday, April 10.
“It will be better if we assess first and study the situation before we start deploying again,” he added.
Abdullah Mama-o, the newly appointed secretary of the DMW, is eyeing the lifting of the suspension on the deployment of new hired skilled and household service workers to some Middle Eastern countries.
In January 2020, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) raised the alert level in Lebanon from Alert 1 or the precautionary phase to Alert 2 or the restriction phase due to the worsening economic condition in the country. The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) issued Resolution No. 08 series of 2020 to suspend the processing and deployment of newly-hired workers bound for Lebanon including crew changes, embarkation, disembarkation, and shore leaves for seafarers.
But OFWs with existing employment contracts and are registered under the Balik Manggagawa Program are allowed to return to Lebanon.
“The Balik Manggagawa that we process are those who have relatives here and who have come through informal channels,” Padaen clarified.
The labor official instead suggested to finalize the Standard Employment Contract for Domestic Workers pending the agreement between the Philippine and Lebanese governments.
“Negotiations stopped in 2012 and have not pushed forward since then,” Padaen revealed.
There are about 17,000 to 19,000 Filipinos in Lebanon as of June 2021 but Padaen said the numbers may have decreased due to the repatriation efforts of the government. The latest batch of OFWs were repatriated only just last month.
In other Middle Eastern countries, Padaen said the POLO continues to process job orders including in Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Northern Cyprus.