Jordan waives $7M exit fees of OFWs

The government of Jordan has waived at least $7 million or around P315 million worth of exit fees for the speedy repatriation of runaway overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), an official said. Michael Ang, honorary consul of Jordan to the Philippines, disclosed that the said amount has reduced the number of distressed Filipino workers housed in the Philippine Overseas Labor Office there to 20 from as high as 500 in the past.

The Philippine government has imposed restriction of the deployment of OFWs to Jordan because of rising cases of abuses among Filipino workers there in 2008. But, despite such measure, 13,000 Filipinos trooped to Jordan after five months of the ban implementation.

“It’s the Philippine government who shouldered the repatriation costs, but the waiving of exit fess is a big help. This [waiving of the exit fees] is a continuing program in Jordan,” Ang said in a recent interview, adding that Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. also pitched in his own resources for the repatriation of the distressed overseas Filipinos.

Ang, however, hinted that the deployment ban could soon be lifted because the Philippine government is already negotiating a labor agreement with the government of Jordan.

“The MOA will provide the framework necessary to give benefits and other privileges not just to Filipinos, but for all foreign workers in Jordan,” Ang added, referring to a memorandum of agreement. –LLANESCA T. PANTI, Manila Times