‘OFWs must be taught ways of hosts’

MANILA, Philippines—It’s not just about airplane etiquette anymore.

The government should conduct country-specific pre-departure orientation seminars (PDOS) for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to avoid “embarrassing incidents” like the one where an OFW was caught with 150 pounds of copper in his luggage while leaving Saudi Arabia, a recruitment industry leader said.

Jackson Gan, vice president of the Federated Association of Manpower Exporters Inc. (Fedmanex), urged the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to make sure pre-departure seminars for OFWs were “country specific” to make them aware of the laws and traditions of the countries they are going to.

“The PDOS should be overhauled to preclude embarrassing incidents like the latest Saudi caper which tarnished the image of OFWs around the world,” Gan said.

Currently, nongovernment organizations and manpower agencies accredited by OWWA give PDOS seminars to OFW headed for regions like the Middle East, Asia, Europe and other Western countries, he said.

“In country-specific seminars, workers will learn the actual practices and culture of a particular country, not just general knowledge about the region or area where he will be assigned,” he said.

Gan noted the recent arrest of an OFW in a Saudi airport after he was caught with 150 pounds of copper in his luggage.

“(The copper was) obviously stolen from his employer and intended for sale in Manila’s junk shops,” Gan said.

He said OFWs in Taiwan had also been caught with “stolen gold wire” used in the assembly of chips and electronic products.

“However, in order to prevent the workers from landing in jail, Taiwan brokers arranged a compromise with the factory owners so that the workers could be sent home and restitution made to the owners,” said Gan, president of Pilipino Manpower Agencies Accredited to Taiwan (Pilmat), the association of recruitment agencies deploying OFWs to Taiwan.

But once back in Manila, the workers even filed an illegal dismissal case against the local agency and their former employer “despite their record of stealing factory goods in Taiwan,” Gan said.

He said there were also cases of PDOS providers issuing “no-appearance certificates” to departing OFWs.

“(This defeats) the main purpose of the seminar which is to prepare the worker for his entry to his job site, to learn the dos and don’ts in that country, especially the culture, tradition, laws and usual practices of the (locals),” Gan said. –Philip Tubeza, Philippine Daily Inquirer