'No deployment of Pinay entertainers to Turkey'

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has cautioned Filipino jobseekers against accepting job offers as entertainers in Turkey as the Philippine government does not allow deployment of such workers there. "The POEA is not processing employment documents of overseas performing artists (OPAs) to Turkey," it said in an advisory early this week. Despite requests from recruiters, Philippine Ambassador to Turkey Pedro Chan said that they have never allowed the deployment of Filipina entertainers there in fear that they would be trafficked. "There are many decent-looking clubs here but you cannot avoid the impression that the women would be trafficked," he said in an interview with GMANews.TV. Moreover, the POEA said that the Department of Labor and Employment was not "keen" on allowing deployment to Turkey because of the supposed lack of "established protective and monitoring mechanisms" for entertainers there. Chan said that like other Middle East countries, Turkey does not have clear laws that would protect the rights of not only Filipina entertainers, but also migrant workers in general. What’s worse, said the ambassador, is that the Philippines does not have a labor attaché stationed in the country. The POEA quoted Labor Secretary Marianito Roque as saying that the deployment of OPAs shall be allowed only in the presence of a bilateral agreement between the Philippines and Turkey to assure protection for Filipino workers in that country. But Chan said that as of now, the signing of any bilateral agreement between the two countries is of "low priority." There are about 4,000 to 5,000 Filipinos working in Turkey, mostly doing household service work and work in the food service industry, said the ambassador. He said the greatest concentration of Filipino workers may be found in Istanbul, the trade center of Turkey. - GMANews.TV The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has cautioned Filipino jobseekers against accepting job offers as entertainers in Turkey as the Philippine government does not allow deployment of such workers there. “The POEA is not processing employment documents of overseas performing artists (OPAs) to Turkey," it said in an advisory early this week. The POEA also said that the Department of Labor and Employment is not “keen" on allowing deployment to Turkey due to the supposed lack of “established protective and monitoring mechanisms" for entertainers there. The agency also quoted Labor Secretary Marianito Roque as saying that the deployment of OPAs shall be allowed only in the presence of a bilateral agreement between the Philippines and Turkey to assure protection for Filipino workers in that country. POEA Administrator Jennifer Manalili said the Philippine Embassy in Ankara has been receiving complaints of abuse from entertainers working in night clubs in Turkey. She said the workers are not properly documented by the POEA or Department of Foreign Affairs, which means they may have gone to Turkey on tourist visas sneak. Some entertainers who sought help from the embassy filed complaints of abuse against their employers after just a few months at work, she quoted the embassy as saying. No other details of the embassy report were available, but the POEA said those who have asked for help from the embassy have been subsequently repatriated to the Philippines. - Kimberly Jane T. Tan, GMANews.TV