More jobs for Pinoys in South Korea eyed

AFP News – This file photo shows a group of Filipino domestic workers collecting their luggage from a carousel at Manila airport, on August 15, 2006. The Philippines is to resume sending workers to Israel as …more
If you’re planning to work abroad, you might want to keep an eye out for job openings in South Korea.

This, as the government hopes the neighboring Asian country will open its doors wider for the Philippines amid a drop in the number of illegal Filipino workers.

“[I] have high hopes that our EPS quota will increase because our EPS performance has been consistently good as reported to me,” Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said.

She was referring to the Employment Permit System, which South Korea uses as a basis for its annual quota of foreign workers. Rate of illegal stay is among the considerations.

“Last year, there was a huge reduction in the number of Filipinos who have illegally stayed in Korea” to 22.7 percent from 30.6 percent Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said.

“This is a good sign that our aggressive strategy of addressing the issue of illegal staying EPS workers in South Korea is bearing fruit,” the Cabinet official added.

The Labor department said a total of 35, 936 OFWs have been sent to Korea in March, 3 percent of whom went back after being sent home at the end of their EPS stint.

While Baldoz admitted that some 8,247 Filipino workers are still staying in Korea illegally, she noted that she is determined to lower this number in the coming years.

South Korea increased the Philippines quota by 500 last year to a maximum of 4,700 workers, data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration showed. –Chin Domingo | Yahoo Southeast Asia