DOLE: 30 OFWs to be repatriated from Jordan

Published February 1, 2012 8:26am

A total of 30 distressed overseas Filipino workers from Jordan will be repatriated to the Philippines in the next two weeks, the Department of Labor and Employment said late Tuesday.

In a news release, the DOLE said the 30 are among the OFWs presently staying at the Filipino Workers Resource Center in Amman, Jordan.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, who is on a two-country Middle East swing, instructed POLO officer-in-charge Welfare Officer Mario Antonio to coordinate closely with the Philippine Embassy in Amman, as well as with local authorities in the Jordan labor ministry and immigration, to ensure faster repatriation.

Baldoz also ordered all Philippine Overseas Labor Offices this week to beef up their case buildup efforts against illegal recruiters and human traffickers.

“I want immediate results on cases that are clearly solvable if only you can build them up with detail that can stand before the courts,” she said.

There are presently 25,000 OFWs in Jordan, 4.2 percent of total migrant workers there. They work as professional workers, such as engineers, nurses, IT workers; skilled workers, such as welders, operators, and designers; semi-skilled workers, such as drivers, electricians, mechanics, hotel workers; and workers in service establishments, such as cleaners and waiters.

But many OFWs in the Hashemite Kingdom are HSWs, many of whom are illegal and undocumented, and vulnerable to abuses. This prompted the Philippines to impose a ban on their deployment in 2001. Agreement with Jordan

During her two-country swing in the Middle East, Baldoz signed a protocol with Jordan Labor Minister Maher Al Waked and will sign a memorandum of understanding on labor cooperation with his Lebanese counterpart Dr. Charbel Nahhas.

But she said that while she has signed an agreement in Jordan for regulating the deployment of Filipino domestic workers, the Filipinos also have to do their part.

“You also have to cooperate with the government so we can prosecute those conscience-less people who have only brought you despair and misery,” she said.

She particularly urged the OFWs victimized by illegal recruiters to tell the POLOs the names, places, and modus operandi of those who illegally recruited them.

The DOLE in turn will use this information for police to do surveillance and entrapment operations and to charge the recruiters.

She also ordered POEA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac to beef up the POEA’s anti-illegal recruitment team and to work double time with the DOLE Regional Coordinating Committee chaired by the DOLE regional directors to ensure that legal requirements and processes are complied with in the filing of cases against the perpetrators of illegal recruitment and human trafficking.

On the other hand, Baldoz appealed to the OFWs who have filed charges to pursue the charges instead of losing interest in them.

“Ang pakiusap ko lang, kapag naisampa na natin ang kaso laban sa mga nambiktima sa inyo, huwag kayong umatras," she said.

Jordan, PHL sign protocol

Meanwhile, Baldoz and Jordan Labor Minister Maher Al Waked signed the “Principles and Controls for Regulating Deployment and Employment of Filipino Domestic Workers.”

The document constitutes a specific protocol or guideline for the implementation of Article 1 of the Memorandum of Understanding on Labor Cooperation forged between the DOLE and Jordan’s Ministry of Labor on May 27, 2010.

Witnessing the signing were Jordanian labor officials led by Undersecretary Nadera Al Bakheet; Ibrahim Al Saudi, Director for Legal Affairs; Laila Shobaki, Director for International Cooperation; Afi Aljbhour, Director of Domestic Labor Directorate; Mazen Karaymeh, Director of Migrant Workers Labour Directorate; and Asma Abu Azzam and Ibrahim Al Al Zogbi, Assistant Undersecretaries.

Representing the Philippines were Undersecretary for Employment Danilo Cruz; Cacdac; Dimzon; International Labor Affairs Bureau director Maya Valderrama; Philippine Embassy in Amman OIC Maria Rosamy Reyes; and Antonio.

This “Principles and Controls” aims to guarantee more protection and welfare for Filipino household service workers in Jordan as both countries agreed to immediately adopt a Standard Employment Contract for OFWs.

“It spells out the measures that the Philippines and Jordan will take to ensure that household service workers to be employed in Jordan in the future will undergo the legal and correct processes of both countries,” said Baldoz, noting there is still a ban on the deployment of HSWs to the Kingdom.

“The protocol ensures the welfare and benefits provided for under our Reform Package for HSWs, particularly the payment of correct wages. Under the protocol, only those employers who have the capacity to pay the minimum salary of US$400 will be allowed to hire Filipino HSWs,” she added.

The “Principles and Controls” contain the following salient features:

Processes on recruitment and arrival of domestic workers shall be done through licensed agencies, in accordance with legal procedures in both countries;
Issuance of a work and residence permit to a domestic worker;
Observance of the minimum age limit of 23 years;
Verification and authentication of work contracts by the POLO and Philippine Embassy in Amman;
Securing life insurance policies for the domestic worker by the employer, in addition to the compulsory insurance provided under RA 10022 charged to licensed agencies at no cost to the worker and renewable after the contract upon mutual agreement between worker and employer;
Responsibility of both governments to provide adequate information on rights and obligations of domestic workers and employers;
Right of the Philippines to obtain a copy of domestic workers’ records in Jordan;
Affirmation of the right of a domestic worker to change an employer, consistent with Jordanian laws;
Opening of a bank account in the name of the domestic worker, with an obligation to timely deposit the domestic worker’s monthly salary;
Provision by the employer of decent accommodation, food, clothing, and medical care for the domestic worker;
Provision by the employer of one rest day per week for the domestic worker;
Provision by the employer of working hours not to exceed ten hours a day;
Both governments’ obligation to provide information on relevant fees and costs collected by recruitment agencies;
Observance of anti-illegal recruitment rules and procedures in both countries;
The Philippines to provide a system of training, qualification, and skills certification of domestic workers at no cost to the worker, charged to the Philippine licensed agencies;
Medical examination of domestic workers prior to deployment; the medical examination will not cost the worker any for this will be charged to the Philippine licensed agencies;
Obligation of Philippine licensed recruitment agency to replace domestic worker who refuses to work for no justifiable reason; both the replaced and the replacement workers shall likewise not bear the cost for this will be charged to the Philippine licensed agencies;
Action on the part of Ministry of Labor of Jordan to resolve any outstanding problems between runaway domestic workers, their employers, and Jordanian agencies;
Access to justice before Jordanian courts;
Creation of a Joint Action Committee to discuss problems arising from the execution of the “Principles and Controls”; and
Three-year validity of the “Principles and Controls”, subject to automatic renewal for a similar period.

— RSJ, GMA News

Tags: dole, pinoysinjordan, filipinosinjordan