OVERSEAS Filipino workers (OFWs) employed in United States military facilities in Iraq “may continue working there until their contracts expire,” the Department of Foreign Affairs said Thursday night. The department had sent a high-level inter-agency committee to Iraq to assess the security and ensure the well-being of the Filipino workers there.
The committee earlier assured Manila that the OFWs employed by the US government or its subcontractors inside American military bases and other facilities will be allowed to continue working there and finish their contracts.
It said repatriation to the Philippines of the workers was guaranteed.
The Foreign Affairs department, Department of Labor and Employment, Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and Office of the Executive Secretary comprise the inter-agency task force.
There are some 2,000 Filipinos working in the US military bases and facilities in Iraq, despite bans on travel and labor deployment.
“This high-level decision has been sent to US authorities through the Philippine embassies in Washington, D.C. and Baghdad as the basis for Filipinos working inside the US bases to be considered compliant with previous US directive of repatriating non-compliant foreign workers,” the Foreign Affairs deparment said in a statement.
The department added that the lifting of the ban against labor deployment must result from a positive assessment of the security situation in Iraq.
Manila has sent Special Envoy Roy Cimatu, the head of the Presidential Middle East Preparedness Committee, to evaluate working conditions of the OFWs in Iraq.
The ban has been in effect since July 2004, or shortly after the kidnapping of Filipino truck driver Angelo dela Cruz.
The Migrant Workers Act, or Republic Act 8042, mandates that the government adhere to strict guidelines in allowing deployment of Filipino workers to other countries, and imposes heavy penalties on government officials who allow the deployment of migrant workers without guarantees required by law. –BERNICE CAMILLE V. BAUZON REPORTER, Manila Times
September 18 –
International Equal Pay Day
“Increase wages now,
more than other cost items.
For widespread, practical equality!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO Constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar
to carry out the recommendations of the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry
against serious violations of protocols of
Forced Labour and Freedom of Association.
Accept the National Unity Government (NUG)
of Myanmar. Reject Military!
#WearMask #WashHands
#Report Corruption #SearchPosts #TakePicturesVideos
October –
Monthly Observances:
Industry and Commerce Safety Month
National Statistics Month
Local Government Month
Consumer Welfare Month
Cooperative Month
National Quality and Productivity Improvement Month
National Health and Wellness Tourism Month
National Indigenous Peoples Month
Weekly Observances:
Week 1: Elderly Filipino Week
Week 2: National Health Education Week
Local Government Week
National Mental Health Week
October 17-23:
National Week for Overcoming Extreme Poverty
October 18 – 24:
United Nations Week
Last Week:
Nurses’ Week
Consumers’ Protection Week
Week of the 4th Sunday:
Barrio Farmers’ Week
Daily Observances:
First Monday (Oct 4): Universal Children’s Day i
n the Philippines
Oct 5: National Teachers’ Day
Oct 10: Local Government Day
Third Thursday (Oct 14): Conflict Resolution Day
Oct 21: Tenants’ Emancipation day
Oct 24: United Nations Day
Oct 29: National Indigenous People’s Thanksgiving Day
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