Palace: PHL open to appealing US ban on Filipino workers

Malacañang on Tuesday raised the possibility of appealing the decision of the United States to impose a one-year ban on the hiring of Filipino workers in agricultural and non-agricultural sectors.

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the government will act as soon as it received a report on the matter from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez.

"What we can do is first, we need to know whether there is basis for their decision. If we can see na wala naman, then we will ask for a reconsideration. But that's the job again, as I said, [of the] DFA and [our] US ambassador," Panelo said at a news conference.

"Once we receive the report [from the DFA and ambassador to the US ], then we will make a move officially."

Panelo also said "anything that will affect our countrymen will always be a concern" of President Rodrigo Duterte.

The US Department of Homeland Security, in its notice posted in the Federal Register, banned the entry of additional Filipino workers with H2-A and H2-B visas due to "severe" overstaying and human trafficking concerns.

"The Philippines has a high H-2B overstay rate. In FY 2017, DHS estimated that nearly 40 percent of H-2B visa holders from the Philippines overstayed their period of authorized stay," the DHS notice read.

H-2A visas are temporary visas for foreign agricultural workers, while H2-B visas are issued to foreign workers providing non-agricultural services in the US.

"If the investigation yields that there was a violation, I don't think puwede tayong makialam doon. What we can do is to do our own controls here para hindi nakakarating doon ang trafficking na nanggagaling sa atin," Panelo said.

"If that is the law in the US and if there were violations, then we have to respect if they have basis for that. We will only react if our workers are being mistreated, maltreated or being discriminated against. And if they violated the laws of the US, then they have to face the music," he said.

Aside from the Philippines, Ethiopia and the Dominican Republic were also removed from the list of countries eligible for the said visa programs. — MDM/RSJ, GMA News