Deployment of Filipino HSWs on the rise

By Samuel P. Medenilla, Manila Bulletin, Mar 30, 2017,

The deployment of newly-hired Filipino household service workers (HSW) abroad continues to increase even after the country lost one of its major markets in the Middle East.

The 51 OFWs repatriated from Libya ,upon their arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1,on Thursday August 21,2014 in Pasay City (PNA photo by Avito C.Dalan) | Manila Bulletin
Overseas Filipino workers (Manila Bulletin file photo)

Based on the latest data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), the number of deployed HSWs in 2015 reached 194,835, which is 7.51 percent higher compared to the 181,224 in 2014.

This comes even if the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a major employer of Filipino HSWs, implemented its unified contract policy in 2014 barring other countries from verifying the contracts of foreign HSWs employed within its jurisdiction.

The policy, which requires the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (POLO) to first verify the contracts of OFW before it could be processed is against Philippine regulations.

While the incident did not lead to the outright banning of Filipino HSWs in UAE, it did significantly reduce their deployment in the Middle East.

The Coalition of Licensed Agencies for Domestic and Service Workers (CLADS) said it sees that more Filipino HSWs will be able to work abroad once the government finally resolves its issue with UAE.

“The deployment of HSWs in now among the top skills that POEA lists followed by manufacturing, laborers, nurses, waiters, cleaners, caregivers, welders, civil engineers, plumbers and pipe fitters,” CLADS President Lucy Sermonia said.

Aside from the resumption of deployment to UAE, CLADS also called on the government to address the problems in the processing of HSWs in the POEA and the resolution of their cases at the POLOs.