'POEA remains vigilant as a regulatory body'

MANILA, Philippines The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) promised to remain vigilant in its regulatory functions despite getting marching orders to “aggressively" look for markets for Filipino labor abroad. POEA Administrator Jennifer Manalili on Friday gave the assurance amid protests from various overseas Filipino workers (OFW) groups and advocates objecting to the new policy. “We are not saying that we do away with the regulation. It’s a balancing act. We won’t close our eyes. The guiding principle is still the guidance and protection of the workers," Manalili told GMANews.TV. She defended President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s Administrative Order No. 247, which enjoined the Cabinet to support the POEA “so it can aggressively deploy" Filipinos without much “institutional hurdles." AO No. 247 took effect earlier this year. “I can’t question the wisdom of the President," Manalili said, explaining that the measure was meant to ensure more jobs for Filipino workers at a time when job opportunities in many countries were declining as a result of the worsening global economic crunch. Advocacy groups led by the Philippine Migrants Rights Watch (PMRW) had expressed concern that such a policy was tantamount to promoting migration as economic tool." Ellene Sana, executive director of the Center for Migrant Advocacy and a member of PMRW, warned that the added function of the POEA was against the government’s policy of non-dependence on OFW deployment as a solution to save the economy. She noted that the Philippine government’s policy under Republic Act 8042 or the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995 on overseas labor says that overseas employment should not be promoted by the government. “While recognizing the significant contribution of Filipino migrant workers…the State does not promote overseas employment as a means to sustain economic growth and achieve national development," reads RA 8042’s declaration of policies. Sana, who is a member of the PMRW, expressed fears that the regulatory function of the POEA would be set aside to make room for the aggressive marketing of OFWs in other countries. “AO 247 is a written and explicit evidence that (the government is) dependent on OFW remittances," Sana said. The POEA, which is under the Philippine Department of Labor and Employment, was created in 1982 by Executive Order No. 797 and is mandated to regulate the overseas employment industry, facilitate the employment of aspiring OFWs and protect their rights. PMRW added that AO 247 is also against President Arroyo’s previously stated policy of strengthening the regulatory function of the POEA. According to the group, the President’s instruction was contrary to the “intent and spirit" of Republic Act 9422 which strengthens the regulatory functions of the POEA thereby repealing Sections 29 and 30 of RA 8042 on deregulation. “The President was with us in this campaign which took 11 years before RA9422 was finally enacted in 2006. She certified this bill as urgent in the 12th and 13th Congress but now, she is setting it aside in favor of aggressive marketing of our people overseas," PMRW said. The signing of AO 247 came on the heels of the global financial crisis, which economists fear would result to the economic recession and more retrenchments for Filipinos in the country and abroad. The $15-billion annual remittance from OFWs is tagged as the lifeblood of the Philippine economy, boosting the country’s dollar reserves. The global economic crisis has threatened the jobs of thousands of Filipinos employed in export-dependent countries like Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore, which have felt the brunt of the US-led crisis. “Is this the way for government to respond to the global economic meltdown?" PMRW asked in a statement, “Should we not be doing the paradigm shift by veering away now from an economic dictum that is quite dependent on external markets?" - GMANews.TV