Press Statement
Eduardo T. Mahiya
President, Federated Associations of Manpower Exporters Inc.
Friday, November 7, 2008
"I would like to clarify reports coming out in the media attributed to Mr. Vic Fernandez of the Philippine Association of Service Exporters, Inc. (PASEI) that the "entire overseas employment sector supports the Workers Enhancement Insurance Program of the PASEI" which Mr. Fernandez is covertly pushing to be adopted by the government.
"The reports are patently false, big lies, and amount to a classic misrepresentation by Mr. Fernandez of the position of the sector.
"The Federation, the umbrella organization of 11 Associations of licensed overseas employment service providers (OESPs), is proposing an Emergency Repatriation and Legal Liability Insurance Program (ERLIP), an OFW protection system which is over and above the existing protection measures of the government for overseas Filipino workers and will not cost the OFW and the government any.
"The ERLIP is being proposed at this time when the overseas employment sector is facing a lot of uncertainties and because we believe that OFW protection is the best strategic approach toward ensuring Philippine competitiveness in the global employment market.
"We have informed Department of Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito D. Roque about our proposal.
"To promote the ERLIP, the Federation has signed a manifesto and had merely invited Mr. Fernandez, as PASEI president, to sign it.
"He indeed signed the manifesto, but used the occasion of the signing, as well as the document, to promote his own insurance program. Worse, he did not inform his fellow stakeholders in the sector about his actions prior to signing the manifesto—a regrettable behavior which confused the public about the OFW protection proposal of the Federation.
"The Federation has nothing to do with Mr. Fernandez’s insurance program which is optional, very limited, and is costly to the OFWs. This is the reason why even the PASEI insurance program has not gained wide acceptance.
"Because of his misrepresentation, the Federation dissociates itself from Mr. Fernandez’s past and future actions with regards the ERLIP and takes him accountable for his continued acts of self-promotion and misrepresentation even at the highest levels of government.
Showing posts with label recruitment agencies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recruitment agencies. Show all posts
Monday, November 17, 2008
Friday, October 24, 2008
Recruiters Propose Visa Waiver for Foreign Employers
and Other Measures to Sustain OFW Deployment
Federated Associations of Manpower Exporters, Inc. urged the Department of Labor and Employment to implement a package of bold measures to ensure the continuous deployment of overseas Filipino workers, saying overseas employment is still the best bet to enable the country to cushion the impact of the financial meltdown now gripping global economies.
In a press statement, the Federation said there is a need for the DOLE to quickly carry out such bold initiatives as waiving the visa requirements for registered or accredited employers who will come to the Philippines to conduct job interviews; simplifying the procedures for processing of OFW documents; facilitating the registration and verification of foreign employers and fast-tracking the authentication of their documents; and completely doing away with bureaucratic delay.
"This package of measures should be in addition to those intervention programs that DOLE Secretary Marianito Roque had announced last week, such as the creation of quick-response teams to assist workers, re-training, and re-employment facilitation," said Eduardo T. Mahiya, Federation president.
The proposals are the Federation's response to the DOLE's move of conducting a series of inter-agency consultations on how to expedite OFW deployment and other related matters.
Last week, the Federation proposed a mandatory repatriation and liability insurance for OFWs in the light of increasing public fears that the global financial crisis will adversely affect overseas Filipino workers.
The insurance, which will not cost the OFW or the government a centavo, will answer the cost of repatriation of OFWs in distress and the loss of their salaries and employment benefits as a result of illegal terminations or mass layoffs.
The mandatory repatriation and liability insurance is over and above existing OFW welfare and protection measures, such as the escrow deposit and performance bond that OESPs are required to put up.
"With the insurance, we are ensuring that our OFWs, whose income remittances are the lifeline of the economy, are amply protected," said Mahiya.
Loreto Soriano, the Federation's executive director, said on the other hand that there is a need for the POEA to closely monitor the hiring pattern and behavior of the country's top-ten OFW destinations so that the government can anticipate any development that could be detrimental to our OFWs, such as decrease in salaries and other employment benefits; decreased working hours, contract termination, and the like.
He warned that while the financial crisis' impact to overseas employment will not be fully felt until about in the next six months, those semi-skilled workers, domestic helpers, and construction and manufacturing workers could be the hardest hit.
He explained that it will also be an anti-illegal recruitment tool because requiring departing OFWs to present proof of liability insurance coverage would minimize the number of undocumented and illegally-recruited workers. OFWs who could not present such proof, he said, will be deemed illegally-recruited and their recruiters shall be prosecuted.
He also said that with the insurance, sufficient funds for OFW claims will be assured, unlike at present when some OESPs, due sometimes to large and multiple claims, becomes bankrupt and, hence, cannot afford to bear the burden of paying.
Soriano further said the insurance will contribute to the emotional security of OFWs and their families because they are assured that claims that would arise from their employment are covered.
"We believe this is the most appropriate, practical and doable measure that can be done quickly in response to the uncertainties in the overseas employment sector," he said.
Mahiya said that because of the gravity of the global financial situation, there is a need to immediately act to calm the fears of OFWs around the world about job security and other concerns and urged the government to mandate the insurance through a presidential issuance.
"We respectfully ask President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to favorably consider this matter," he said.
Federated Associations of Manpower Exporters, Inc. urged the Department of Labor and Employment to implement a package of bold measures to ensure the continuous deployment of overseas Filipino workers, saying overseas employment is still the best bet to enable the country to cushion the impact of the financial meltdown now gripping global economies.
In a press statement, the Federation said there is a need for the DOLE to quickly carry out such bold initiatives as waiving the visa requirements for registered or accredited employers who will come to the Philippines to conduct job interviews; simplifying the procedures for processing of OFW documents; facilitating the registration and verification of foreign employers and fast-tracking the authentication of their documents; and completely doing away with bureaucratic delay.
"This package of measures should be in addition to those intervention programs that DOLE Secretary Marianito Roque had announced last week, such as the creation of quick-response teams to assist workers, re-training, and re-employment facilitation," said Eduardo T. Mahiya, Federation president.
The proposals are the Federation's response to the DOLE's move of conducting a series of inter-agency consultations on how to expedite OFW deployment and other related matters.
Last week, the Federation proposed a mandatory repatriation and liability insurance for OFWs in the light of increasing public fears that the global financial crisis will adversely affect overseas Filipino workers.
The insurance, which will not cost the OFW or the government a centavo, will answer the cost of repatriation of OFWs in distress and the loss of their salaries and employment benefits as a result of illegal terminations or mass layoffs.
The mandatory repatriation and liability insurance is over and above existing OFW welfare and protection measures, such as the escrow deposit and performance bond that OESPs are required to put up.
"With the insurance, we are ensuring that our OFWs, whose income remittances are the lifeline of the economy, are amply protected," said Mahiya.
Loreto Soriano, the Federation's executive director, said on the other hand that there is a need for the POEA to closely monitor the hiring pattern and behavior of the country's top-ten OFW destinations so that the government can anticipate any development that could be detrimental to our OFWs, such as decrease in salaries and other employment benefits; decreased working hours, contract termination, and the like.
He warned that while the financial crisis' impact to overseas employment will not be fully felt until about in the next six months, those semi-skilled workers, domestic helpers, and construction and manufacturing workers could be the hardest hit.
He explained that it will also be an anti-illegal recruitment tool because requiring departing OFWs to present proof of liability insurance coverage would minimize the number of undocumented and illegally-recruited workers. OFWs who could not present such proof, he said, will be deemed illegally-recruited and their recruiters shall be prosecuted.
He also said that with the insurance, sufficient funds for OFW claims will be assured, unlike at present when some OESPs, due sometimes to large and multiple claims, becomes bankrupt and, hence, cannot afford to bear the burden of paying.
Soriano further said the insurance will contribute to the emotional security of OFWs and their families because they are assured that claims that would arise from their employment are covered.
"We believe this is the most appropriate, practical and doable measure that can be done quickly in response to the uncertainties in the overseas employment sector," he said.
Mahiya said that because of the gravity of the global financial situation, there is a need to immediately act to calm the fears of OFWs around the world about job security and other concerns and urged the government to mandate the insurance through a presidential issuance.
"We respectfully ask President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to favorably consider this matter," he said.
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Recruiters' Group Lauds Ex-Congressman's Appointment to CAB
The Federated Associations of Manpower Exporters, Inc., the country’s largest umbrella organization of licensed overseas employment service providers, yesterday lauded the appointment by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of former congressman Renato Diaz as director of the Civic Aeronautic Board.
In a press statement, the Federation, through its president Eduardo T. Mahiya, said stakeholders in the overseas employment industry are ecstatic over the appointment of the former Nueva Ecija solon who also concurrently serves as presidential adviser for North Luzon Development.
The private overseas recruitment sector and overseas Filipino workers has an ally in former congressman Renato Diaz. When he was congressman, he took up the cudgels for us when the House of Representatives’ Committee on Overseas Workers attended to the serious problem of shortage of airline flights for overseas workers bound to the Middle East,” Mahiya explained.
“He spoke on behalf of the affected sectors by asking the CAB to act on the shortage which was preventing the departure of about 1,000 workers everyday,” he added.
Mahiya said that Representative Manuel “Way Kurat” Zamora, committee chairman, acted swiftly on the recommendation of former congressman Diaz for the Philippine Airlines to provide sufficient daily bookings for departing overseas workers.
Moreover, the committee also urged the CAB to provide entitlements (flight rights) to Middle Eastern airlines to enable them to have additional flights that will carry OFW passengers directly to countries in the Middle East.
Mahiya said that with Diaz as a CAB director, he could pursue reforms in the agency and offer meaningful contributions towards ensuring that OFWs as passengers are able to leave for overseas work and return to the country without hassle and worry.
“We wish Cong, Diaz well in his new responsibility,” he said.
In a press statement, the Federation, through its president Eduardo T. Mahiya, said stakeholders in the overseas employment industry are ecstatic over the appointment of the former Nueva Ecija solon who also concurrently serves as presidential adviser for North Luzon Development.
The private overseas recruitment sector and overseas Filipino workers has an ally in former congressman Renato Diaz. When he was congressman, he took up the cudgels for us when the House of Representatives’ Committee on Overseas Workers attended to the serious problem of shortage of airline flights for overseas workers bound to the Middle East,” Mahiya explained.
“He spoke on behalf of the affected sectors by asking the CAB to act on the shortage which was preventing the departure of about 1,000 workers everyday,” he added.
Mahiya said that Representative Manuel “Way Kurat” Zamora, committee chairman, acted swiftly on the recommendation of former congressman Diaz for the Philippine Airlines to provide sufficient daily bookings for departing overseas workers.
Moreover, the committee also urged the CAB to provide entitlements (flight rights) to Middle Eastern airlines to enable them to have additional flights that will carry OFW passengers directly to countries in the Middle East.
Mahiya said that with Diaz as a CAB director, he could pursue reforms in the agency and offer meaningful contributions towards ensuring that OFWs as passengers are able to leave for overseas work and return to the country without hassle and worry.
“We wish Cong, Diaz well in his new responsibility,” he said.
Monday, August 18, 2008
PASEI Voices Concerns on "Unified Contract"
The country's overseas employment service providers appealed to concerned government agencies and both the Senate and the Lower House to come to the defense of the Filipino overseas contract workers whose rights, interests and welfare will be put at risk by the impending implementation of the "unified contract."
The group, led by the 777-strong Philippine Association of Service Exporters, Inc., (PASEI), the biggest association of landbased recruitment agencies licensed by the POEA and DOLE, said the onerous "unified contract", a unilateral imposition by a private group of private agencies from Saudi Arabia called the Saudi National Recruitment Committee, may take effect on September 1 this year.
The implementation of the "unified contract" which PASEI branded as "prejudicial," was relayed by the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in a Note Verbale dated July 18, 2008 to Assistant Secretary Jesus I. Yabes of the Office of the Middle East and African Affairs who furnished last July 22, 2008 copies to the Department of Labor and Employment and Philippine Overseas Employment Administration for their "information and appropriate action". To date, no action was taken by both DOLE and POEA in protecting the OCWs against the Unified Contract which is about to take effect by September 1.
"We strongly oppose this scheme because it is virtually devoid of any consultation with the Philippine government, industry stakeholders and most especially with the Filipino migrant workers' groups and OCWs who will be greatly disadvantaged by the proposed onerous scheme," PASEI president Victor E. R. Fernandez, Jr. said.
He pointed out that the Department of Foreign Affairs, Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Affairs, DOLE, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, would be remiss on their mandated tasks of protecting the rights and promoting the welfare of Filipino OCWs if they treat the "unified contract" as a mere private contract between the SANARCOM member agencies and their Philippines counterparts. It is imbued with public interest and concerns the protection and welfare of our OCWs.
"Will government turn a blind eye and deaf ear to the onslaught and clear "legitimization of oppression and abuses to be committed to our OCWs under the Unified Contract scheme by SANARCOM?," Fernandez asked.
This is due to a provision in the "unified contract" which clearly stipulates that the employer-employee relations between the Saudi employer and the Filipino OCW will be governed by a substituted and another work contract presented by the SANARCOM agency which will disregard the original approved POEA contract attested by our POLO, Fernandez explained. "If this is tolerated, it would certainly spawn the abhorrent practice of contract "substitution" to the detriment of the Filipino OCWs and opens the worker to "permitted abuses," he added.
POEA called the leaders of the industry associations to a meeting on the subject last July 28 but nothing immediately clear came out of it in terms of action. "The letter supposed to be drafted by the POEA conveying to the DFA the strong sense and unanimous objections of the industry stakeholders vis-à-vis the unified contract has yet to reach the royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia through the Philippine DFA with copy to PASEI," said Fernandez.
He warned that if concerned government agencies and Congress cannot do anything to prevent the implementation of the "unified contract" before September 1, PASEI will wage a sustained campaign among industry stakeholders to refuse acceptance and signing of any "unified contract" with any Saudi recruitment agency whether or not they are members of the SANARCOM group of KSA, or any manpower agency or intermediary in the Middle East.
Fernandez vowed to take this issue as well to the ILO, IOM, UNIFEM and concerned NGOs such as Consultative Council for OFW and Migrante as well as with the newly formed Alliance of Asian Associations of Overseas Employment Service Providers composed of Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Urging their member agencies to "prevent the oppression of our OCWs," Fernandez also appealed to them "to take the moral high grounds and show our genuine concern for the rights and welfare of the OCWs we deploy because the problems and concerns of our OCWs are our concerns as well. Our OCWs need not be defenseless and strong determined decisive action in unison with government and industry stakeholders is the battle cry of the day to protect our OCWs as well as other migrant workers from other labor-exporting countries."
Monday, July 21, 2008
Ambitious Zero-illegal Recruitment Bid Faces Many Hurdles in La Union
By Jeremaiah M. Opiniano
MANDALUYONG CITY–A BID to stomp out illegal recruitment in La Union province within a year got off on a slow start, with the nonprofit group leading this ambitious project bracing itself for “booby traps” along the way.
Marge Madiguid of Kanlungan Centre Foundation Inc. said there was no formal launch yet for its “zero illegal recruitment campaign,” planned to start this June.
The campaign won for Kanlungan a P0.92-million grant in May from the World Bank-sponsored contest called “Panibagong Paraan”.Madiguid told the OFW Journalism Consortium that while there’s no formal launch for the project, they have met and discussed the campaign with local government and nongovernment groups and agencies.
She’s hoping that all committees they plan to organize for the campaign would be formed before July.But the slow start is the least of Kanlungan’s problems as Madiguid said a lot of hurdles await the project.
The biggest hurdle, she said, is the alleged links between recruiters and executives of the local government, which is one of Kanlungan’s partner in the project.La Union, some 235 kilometers north of Manila, hit the headlines in 2006 when former Agoo assistant provincial prosecutor Catalino Pepi was reportedly sentenced to life imprisonment for illegally recruiting factory workers bound for South Korea.
The conviction decision of the Regional Trial Court in Agoo read that Pepi connived with a Manila recruitment agency, and even used his office, to collect placement fees ranging between P40,000 to P150,000 from each applicant.Another news report cited the arrest of provincial board member Pablo Olarte after three people filed a case against the former mayor of Agoo, La Union, for not being sent overseas.
A 2006 POEA release cited Olarte as proprietor of Sabloak Philippines, a consultancy firm offering paid services for jobseekers wanting to meet immigration requirements for Canada.Madiguid, however, defended Olarte, describing the government officials as a “victim, too.”
She added that Olarte, the former mayor of Agoo, is a pro bono lawyer for three illegally-recruited provincemates.
That explains his attachment to recruitment regulations, Madiguid said.Olarte apparently lobbied for the provincial ordinance requiring recruiters to apply for license from the provincial government before practicing their trade.
Still, she thinks the project will “test his sincerity”.
La Union has the largest number of recorded illegal recruitment cases for the Ilocos region, according to government data.Kanlungan Centre, a 20-year-old counseling center for domestic workers, has provided service to more than 300 IR cases in La Union over an 11-year period.
This meant on the average, the Quezon City-headquartered group’s satellite office in La Union, handled 27 cases a year.Deployment data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration in 2006 showed that La Union was the birthplace of some 9,677 land-based and 1,717 sea-based temporary contract workers.On the other hand, 1988-2005 data of registered emigrants from the Commission on Filipinos Overseas revealed some 15,343 permanent residents abroad came from La Union.
According to Madiguid, some 30 recruitment agencies are active in the province.POEA’s directory of licensed agencies shows that La Union has a homegrown recruitment agency, Beldevere Manpower, and nine Metro Manila-headquartered licensed recruitment agencies that have branch offices in the province.
Ten of these are in San Fernando City: 2000 Miles Placement Agency; Active Works Inc.; Aim High International Placement Corp. (two branches); Greenworld Placement Services; Humania International Inc.; Interworld Placement Center; and, St. Georges Recruitment International (two branches).Another recruitment agency, AD’s Overseas Placement Agency, has a branch office in the municipality of Bauang.
Beldevere Manpower (www.beldeveremanpower.net), for its part, even has extension offices in Manila and in London, United Kingdom.The La Union provincial government website showed that Beldevere and three Metro Manila-based recruiters placed job orders in 12 countries through the provincial government’s Public Employment Services Office.
PESO hosts job fairs for local and overseas jobs.In a State of the Province Address, Governor Pablo Ortega reported that in 2006, the PESOs tapped 250 firms, recruitment agencies, and government offices for local and overseas jobs. Out of 3,589 applicants for local and overseas placement, some 1,713 were employed, Ortega reported.
However, the website of the Labor department’s Bureau of Local Employment noted that a dozen of the 21 PESOs in La Union are “non-operational”.Four of the nine areas of Kanlungan-La Union’s project sites, namely Bagulin, Naguilian, Santol, and Sudipen, have non-operational PESOs.“They do not screen the companies involved in their job fairs,” said Madiguid.She cited an IR case that Kanlungan handled wherein the potential OFW learned about an overseas job opening through the PESO.
This article is free, but to publish, broadcast, rewrite, or redistribute this, please write or email the OFW Journalism Consortium
MANDALUYONG CITY–A BID to stomp out illegal recruitment in La Union province within a year got off on a slow start, with the nonprofit group leading this ambitious project bracing itself for “booby traps” along the way.
Marge Madiguid of Kanlungan Centre Foundation Inc. said there was no formal launch yet for its “zero illegal recruitment campaign,” planned to start this June.
The campaign won for Kanlungan a P0.92-million grant in May from the World Bank-sponsored contest called “Panibagong Paraan”.Madiguid told the OFW Journalism Consortium that while there’s no formal launch for the project, they have met and discussed the campaign with local government and nongovernment groups and agencies.
She’s hoping that all committees they plan to organize for the campaign would be formed before July.But the slow start is the least of Kanlungan’s problems as Madiguid said a lot of hurdles await the project.
The biggest hurdle, she said, is the alleged links between recruiters and executives of the local government, which is one of Kanlungan’s partner in the project.La Union, some 235 kilometers north of Manila, hit the headlines in 2006 when former Agoo assistant provincial prosecutor Catalino Pepi was reportedly sentenced to life imprisonment for illegally recruiting factory workers bound for South Korea.
The conviction decision of the Regional Trial Court in Agoo read that Pepi connived with a Manila recruitment agency, and even used his office, to collect placement fees ranging between P40,000 to P150,000 from each applicant.Another news report cited the arrest of provincial board member Pablo Olarte after three people filed a case against the former mayor of Agoo, La Union, for not being sent overseas.
A 2006 POEA release cited Olarte as proprietor of Sabloak Philippines, a consultancy firm offering paid services for jobseekers wanting to meet immigration requirements for Canada.Madiguid, however, defended Olarte, describing the government officials as a “victim, too.”
She added that Olarte, the former mayor of Agoo, is a pro bono lawyer for three illegally-recruited provincemates.
That explains his attachment to recruitment regulations, Madiguid said.Olarte apparently lobbied for the provincial ordinance requiring recruiters to apply for license from the provincial government before practicing their trade.
Still, she thinks the project will “test his sincerity”.
La Union has the largest number of recorded illegal recruitment cases for the Ilocos region, according to government data.Kanlungan Centre, a 20-year-old counseling center for domestic workers, has provided service to more than 300 IR cases in La Union over an 11-year period.
This meant on the average, the Quezon City-headquartered group’s satellite office in La Union, handled 27 cases a year.Deployment data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration in 2006 showed that La Union was the birthplace of some 9,677 land-based and 1,717 sea-based temporary contract workers.On the other hand, 1988-2005 data of registered emigrants from the Commission on Filipinos Overseas revealed some 15,343 permanent residents abroad came from La Union.
According to Madiguid, some 30 recruitment agencies are active in the province.POEA’s directory of licensed agencies shows that La Union has a homegrown recruitment agency, Beldevere Manpower, and nine Metro Manila-headquartered licensed recruitment agencies that have branch offices in the province.
Ten of these are in San Fernando City: 2000 Miles Placement Agency; Active Works Inc.; Aim High International Placement Corp. (two branches); Greenworld Placement Services; Humania International Inc.; Interworld Placement Center; and, St. Georges Recruitment International (two branches).Another recruitment agency, AD’s Overseas Placement Agency, has a branch office in the municipality of Bauang.
Beldevere Manpower (www.beldeveremanpower.net), for its part, even has extension offices in Manila and in London, United Kingdom.The La Union provincial government website showed that Beldevere and three Metro Manila-based recruiters placed job orders in 12 countries through the provincial government’s Public Employment Services Office.
PESO hosts job fairs for local and overseas jobs.In a State of the Province Address, Governor Pablo Ortega reported that in 2006, the PESOs tapped 250 firms, recruitment agencies, and government offices for local and overseas jobs. Out of 3,589 applicants for local and overseas placement, some 1,713 were employed, Ortega reported.
However, the website of the Labor department’s Bureau of Local Employment noted that a dozen of the 21 PESOs in La Union are “non-operational”.Four of the nine areas of Kanlungan-La Union’s project sites, namely Bagulin, Naguilian, Santol, and Sudipen, have non-operational PESOs.“They do not screen the companies involved in their job fairs,” said Madiguid.She cited an IR case that Kanlungan handled wherein the potential OFW learned about an overseas job opening through the PESO.
This article is free, but to publish, broadcast, rewrite, or redistribute this, please write or email the OFW Journalism Consortium
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