DFA wants higher age limit imposed for Pinoy domestic helpers abroad

MANILA, Philippines -The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is pushing for the increase in minimum age requirement for Filipino domestic helpers deployed abroad, Labor Undersecretary Rosalinda Baldoz said. In an interview, Baldoz said the DFA has asked the governing board of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to re-impose the 30-year-old age limit for household service workers (HSW), replacing the existing age limit of 23 years. “There is a proposal from the DFA to raise again to 30 years old the age limit for our household service workers," Baldoz - who was the former administrator of the POEA prior to her appointment as Labor Undersecretary last Friday - said. The official said the increasing cases of suicides and runaways among Filipino HSWs had prompted the DFA to ask for the increase in the minimum age requirement for OFWs being deployed as domestic helpers. But Baldoz revealed that the members of the POEA Board has yet to tackle the issue. Migrant workers group Migrante International earlier reported that there had been 18 cases of suicide among Filipino domestic workers committed in Lebanon for this year alone. Aside from the cases of suicide, the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices in some countries in the Middle East in particular Jordan and Kuwait have recorded high numbers of runaways. In 2006, the POEA Governing Board approved a resolution defining policy reforms that seek to improve the condition of household workers. The new policies which took effect December 16, 2006, include upgrading of skills of the workers, orientation course on country-specific culture and language, protective mechanisms at the job sites, obliging employers to shoulder the cost of deploying the domestic helper, increasing the age limit to 23 years old, and increasing the minimum salary of domestic workers from $200 to $400. But former Labor Secretary Arturo Brion admitted that the real purpose of the HSW policy reforms is really to bring down the number of Filipinas working as domestic helpers overseas. Records of the POEA indicated that in the first six month of this year, the number of domestic helpers of female HSWs deployed went down, with the male workers now dominating the deployment. In the interview, Baldoz said that currently, there is one female OFW for every two male OFWs deployed abroad. She noted that demand for skilled male workers are now higher than the demand for female HSWs. - GMANews.TV