DFA urged: Delay ban to protect OFWs

MANILA, Philippines — The recruitment industry urged the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Sunday to withdraw its certification on the 41 banned countries.

Recruitment industry representative Lito Soriano said this will allow the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to delay the implementation of its resolution banning the deployment in the 41 countries this month.

He said this will also allow the DFA to renegotiate with the affected countries to provide the necessary policy protection for OFWs.

Under R.A. 10022, the DFA is required to certify other countries, if it has labor laws, bilateral agreements, ratified conventions, or other concrete measures protecting the rights of OFWs.

Based from these recommendations, POEA will then issue deployment ban for non-compliant countries, while allowing normal deployment for those, which complied.

“The DFA should first withdraw the certifications it submitted last December to the POEA,” Soriano said.

“This is to give the POEA the legal reason to temporarily withhold the implementation of the deployment ban which has triggered so much flak from the private agencies and OFWs,” he added.

Meanwhile, Trade Union of Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) Spokesman Roy Seneres said the TUCP is pushing to repeal the provision in R.A. 10022 in banning countries with no policy protection for OFWs.

He said the provision is not sustainable since it will not stop recruitment agencies in compliant countries from redeploying OFWs to banned countries.

“The law is unimplementable in the long run and will only antagonize host countries,” Seneres said.

Seneres, who is a former labor attaché and ambassador to the United Arab Emirate, said the DFA should instead intensify the orientation of it Ambassadors to defend the rights of OFWs. –Manila Bulletin