THE Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) is mulling to ban the deployment of Household Service Workers (HSW) in the Middle East, which has highest number of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) estimated at 1.2 million due to escalation of maltreatment and abuses against workers there.
Labor and employment secretary Silvestre Bello said that he had a dialogue with five ambassadors from Middle East and even raised his plan to stop sending HSWs in their countries if violence against Filipino employees continues to prevail.
“That is why I was studying the possibility of stopping or suspending deployment ng mga HSW doon,” he said.
Bello is currently observing the developments if they would still receive pile of complaints and reports of physical abuse. This is to protect the welfare of the HSW who are vulnerable to abuses.
“Nakiusap naman sakin ‘yong limang ambassadors na they will improve [their system] so sinabi ko I will wait for the improvement and if we do not notice substantial compliance, we will force them [employees],” he said.
In the regional office of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (Owwa 11) alone, they have received at least 261 welfare cases and complaints in the first quarter of the year while last year, from January to December 2016, they have accommodated 804 complaints wherein the topmost concern is maltreatment of employees.
Meanwhile, Bello warned the would-be OFWs to verify the legality of their recruitment agencies for them not to fall prey on illegal activities by visiting the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to determine whether they are legitimate or fake.
“Ito din ay warning sa ating mga kababayan na huwag na huwag kayong magpapaloko pagka merong lumapit sa inyo agency. The first you should do is go to POEA and inquire about the status of the agency kasi its possible na illegal recruiter yan,” he said.