The governing board of the Philippine Overseas and Employment Administration (POEA) issued the list of 125 countries that have complied with Republic Act 10022, or the amended Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995, and the 41 countries that have not. The new law seeks the protection of Filipino migrant workers from all forms of abuses.
So far, the POEA list of noncompliant countries include Afghanistan, Bahamas, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Chad, Cuba, East Timor, Eritrea, Haiti, India, Iraq, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Pakistan, Sudan, Swaziland, Turks and Caicos and the US Virgin Islands.
But the labor chief said the international contractors can still send Filipino migrant workers to these countries because the host governments and the employers are still bound by the “standards, conditions, requirements, as embodied in the employment contracts prescribed by the POEA and in accordance with internationally accepted standards.”
Most of the Filipino workers being sent to these noncompliant countries are engaged in construction, hotels and services.
However, the government may no longer send Filipino workers to noncompliant countries such as Antigua, Croatia, Kyrgystan, Montenegro, Nauru, Nepal, Serbia, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Tajikistan, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Zimbabwe due to the absence of international contractors operating there.
But Baldoz said the impact would not be high as these countries host only few Filipino migrant workers reaching only 229 in 2009 and 179 in 2010.
“If ever, the number of OFWs to be affected by the suspension of deployment pursuant to GB Resolution 7 is very minuscule,” Baldoz said, further emphasizing that the suspension is based on the present certifications on the basis of which the POEA governing board will act accordingly,” she said.
The POEA, an attached agency of the Department of Labor and Employment, earlier lifted deployment ban to Afghanistan and Iraq based on recommendation of the Department of Foreign Affairs. The partial lifting allows Filipino workers with existing contracts and working inside American military camps and facilities to finish their contracts. The decision allows these workers to extend their contracts or redeployment if they are finished with their contracts.
The government has not lifted the deployment ban on Libya as the security situation there remains volatile.
(Estrella Torres)
