OFWs to end up paying for $8K bond under POEA rules

Overseas Filipino workers would ultimately shoulder the $8,000 bond required from foreign employers under the new guidelines issued by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration governing direct hiring of OFWs, an alliance of migrants’ organizations said on Friday. Memorandum Circular No. 4 approved by the POEA board on Dec. 18, 2007 requires foreign employers directly hiring Filipino workers to post a repatriation bond of $5,000 plus $3,000 performance bond. But Connie Bragas-Regalado, chair of Migrante International, said foreign employers usually recoup recruitment costs from OFWs themselves, either through maximum exploitation of their labor or through direct deductions from their salaries. "Mafiosi is the most apt word for the (machinist) of the new POEA policy, which exposes the administration of President Gloria Arroyo as a ruthless thug who makes sure that all the activities on its labor-exploitation alley must fall under her ‘protection racket'," Regalado said. The new guidelines took effect last January 15. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas 2007 records show that government exactions from OFWs through the various agencies netted around P13 billion. The new POEA guidelines could be another hole in the pockets of migrant workers, Regalado said. Migrante has joined OFWs, mostly professionals, from different countries across the globe in demanding the immediate scrapping of the new POEA guidelines. Many OFWs view the guidelines as anti-OFW because it would mean loss of employment opportunities, saying that foreign employers would rather recruit workers from other countries that do not impose bond payments. "With the POEA MC-04, it will be our jobs that will be at stake. This rule is a grave threat to our employment," said Dolores Balladares, chair of United Filipinos in Hong Kong, an affiliate of Migrante. She said Filipino workers who are renewing their contracts with the same employer or are transferring employers because of a finished or a pre-terminated contract stand to lose their employment under the new policy. "For an employer of a domestic helper in Hong Kong, this translates to almost HK$50,000. Practical and financial reasons alone will inhibit prospective employers from shelling out the amount," she said. The required bonds, she said, would only cause confusion and inconvenience that will most likely push the employers from hiring Filipino workers. Even if the prospective employer decides not to direct hire a worker and just go through recruitment agencies, the resulting worse situation for the OFW will also likely cost his or her job, Balladares added. "Due to the high fees that recruitment agencies charge, many OFWs are forced to borrow money from financing agencies. In our experience, the serious debt situation of Filipino migrants also oftentimes leads to their termination from their jobs," she noted. "Either which way is taken, it is us OFWs who will ultimately suffer the consequences,"s Balladares averred. She said the government could have crafted the new guidelines out of "desperation...to increase its financial gains from the labor export industry while letting go of its responsibility for protection of and services to Filipinos abroad" and has put the livelihood itself of OFWs in a vulnerable situation. In view of the strong opposition to the direct hiring policy, Regalado said Migrante will intensify efforts for the immediate scrapping of the new guidelines and strengthen the ongoing campaign for the ouster of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo because she would never implement policies for the genuine benefits of OFWs. Migrante International is spearheading a signature campaign and a series of protest actions in the Philippines, Italy, Hong Kong, the Middle East and other countries against the new policy. - GMANews.TV