The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) should try to implement a no placement fee set-up for the Japan labor market.
House Speaker Martin Romualdez made this appeal Friday, Feb. 10 following the commitment of Japanese companies and employers to hire more Filipinos.
"I hope that the DMW can engage the recruitment industry and Japanese employers on how to make Japan a 100-percent no placement fee labor market,” said Romualdez, who is part of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s official delegation in his ongoing visit to Japan.
It was during the Philippine officials' dialogue with Japanese business executives that the promise to hire more Filipinos was made.
The personnel to be hired include seafarers, professionals and non-skilled workers.
Romualdez said that while trainees under the Technical Internship Training Program and specified skilled workers need not pay placement fees, there are Filipino jobseekers who fall outside these categories that are being asked to pay, such as professionals and highly skilled workers.
Meanwhile, the Leyte 1st district congressman expressed elation over how Japanese employers treat their Filipino employees. "We are happy to hear directly from our OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) in Japan on how much they are valued by their employers, and vice-versa."
The Speaker also appealed to workers in Japan and job applicants in Manila “to report excessive and illegal fees to the DMW and through our Migrant Workers Offices in Osaka and Tokyo".
“Congress will work with DMW in strengthening existing laws and regulations to enable the government to run after and punish those who collect illegal fees,” Romualdez said.