Job prospects abroad remain bright – DOLE

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported yesterday that employment prospects abroad remained bright for construction workers and other highly skilled Filipino workers in the coming year.

Labor Undersecretary Danny Cruz said at least 10,000 jobs await Filipino construction and other skilled workers in Guam in the next five years with the planned construction of new US military facilities there.

“The construction of huge US military facilities is expected to open job opportunities for Filipinos in the third quarter of this year, but the hiring of workers may start earlier because there are other buildings to be constructed aside from the military facilities,” Cruz disclosed.

Cruz noted that the construction of military facilities suffered a minor setback due to financial difficulties, but he said the project would definitely start this year.

Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) chief Jennifer Manalili also reported that Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries are also expected to hire more Filipino construction and other workers this year.

“There are a lot of job opportunities for Filipino workers in the Middle East because of the construction boom which is expected to continue until 2020,” Manalili pointed out.

Manalili said new hospitals are also set to open in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and thus expected to generate more employment for Filipino health workers in 2011.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz also reported that employers from Malta have expressed their desire to hire more Filipino caregivers.

Citing reports from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO), Baldoz said many overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) now working in Malta are getting high salaries.

“Malta’s minimum wage is 620 euro ($820) and Filipino workers there receive not less than this minimum wage amount. Besides, Filipino workers in Malta are allowed to do part-time jobs after eight hours of regular work,” Baldoz said.

Baldoz, however, warned jobseekers desiring to work abroad to check their prospective employers, as well as their recruitment agencies, with the POEA to ensure that there are valid job orders and that they would undergo legal application and deployment processes.

John Leonard Monterona, Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator, said new employment policies in the UAE and other countries in the Middle East could slow down hiring of OFWs in 2011.

Monterona said that the UAE government is implementing 20 percent job reservation for its nationals as part of its labor market reforms.

“This week, the UAE labor ministry has been cited in various local news reports that it will require all companies to have at least one-fifth of their staff as Emirate citizens,” Monterona disclosed.

He added that the UAE labor ministry is also expected to implement a quota system in hiring expatriate workers in line with its aim boosting employment of its citizens over foreign workers.

Monterona said UAE has been hard hit by the global crisis, thus it is opting to enforce labor market reforms that would lessen the impact on its citizens.

He said that Saudi Arabia is also implementing a “Saudization” program requiring private companies to hire its citizens up to about five percent of total staff.

“If Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been in the 1st and 2nd place, respectively, of the top ten destinations of OFWs from 2003 to 2009, since these countries are now introducing labor market reforms geared towards more restrictions, then we are seeing a dim prospect of OFW deployment by 2011,” Monterona said.

OFW legal fund

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban Conejos Jr. said the department’s legal assistance fund could now be used to prosecute erring and abusive employers of OFWs.

Conejos said the utilization of the legal assistance fund was specified for payment of certain fees but it can now be used to go after employers of OFWs.

“We can now use it to prosecute erring and abusive employers not only as defense, bail bonds or litigation funds,” Conejos said.

He said that the balance of the funds in the previous year will not revert to the National Treasury but will be added to the budget for the present year.

“According to DBM (Department of Budget and Management) we will implement that so it will have the minimum of P30 million appropriation from Congress plus balances from the previous year so we should be okay,” he added.

Conejos admitted a reduced budget after the DFA agreed to the slashing of the legal assistance fund despite increasing cases of distressed OFWs.

“But the important thing is we gave them the assurance that even with a reduced budget we can continue to provide sufficient, adequate service to our OFWs,” he said

The United Filipinos in Hong Kong said cutting the legal assistance fund for OFWs from P50 million to P27 million showed the Aquino government is willing to leave OFWs rotting in prison.

The Migrant Workers’ Act requires a P100-million revolving legal assistance fund for distressed workers under the DFA.

The Blas F. Ople Center said Republic Act No. 10022 that amended the Migrant Workers’ Act of 1995 mandates the DFA to use its legal assistance fund to file charges against foreign employers and agencies abroad in behalf of aggrieved Filipino workers.

Meanwhile, the labor department is coming out with a new “anti-contractualization” policy this year in an apparent effort to stop massive job losses.

Nicon Fameronag, Labor Communication Office director, said the department plans to issue a new regulation replacing DOLE Order No. 18-02.

“Consultation in the different regions are already being undertaken with the end goal of revising DO 1082,” Fameronag said.

Under the Arroyo presidency, the department issued Order No. 1082 allowing contractualization of jobs, except in the so-called “labor only contracting” category.

Labor groups opposed the contractualization, claiming it equates security of tenure to having a definite contract instead of the regular and permanent status previously enjoyed by workers.

Even the influential Catholic Church objected to the continuing mass termination of workers as more employers nationwide preferred to hire contractual workers to save on operational cost.

For the past years, trade unions have called on the government to seriously look at what they described as violation of trade union and human rights.

Fameronag said Labor Secretary Baldoz hopes to come out with a new policy to address the issue of contractualization.

“DOLE wants a policy that is more relevant, but definitely the new measure would not allow contractualization,” Fameronag disclosed.

Fameronag said the policies would be compliant with the International Labor Organization Conventions on the Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.

With the resumption of the inspections next week, Fameronag said, DOLE would also intensify monitoring of establishments to prevent employers from practicing contractualization.

He said DOLE has expanded the labor inspection program, which now includes occupational health and contractualization practices to ensure workers’ health and rights are properly protected.  –-Mayen Jaymalin (The Philippine Star) with Pia Lee-Brago