30,000 jobs threatened by OFW recruitment mess

At least 30,000 jobs overseas are in peril after more than 600 recruitment agencies were suspended for not being able to comply with a new rule of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).

"About 30,000 job orders are on hold at the moment since 616 agencies have been suspended for their failure to comply with the 2002 POEA rules and regulations," a source in the recruitment industry said yesterday.

The source explained that the POEA prohibited the 616 agencies from processing job orders until they have complied with the requirement to increase their capitalization by P250,000 and add P175,000 to their escrow deposit.

Earlier, Mandaluyong Regional Trial Court Judge Maria Cancino Erum ordered the POEA to immediately "cease and desist" from enforcing a yearly increase in the escrow deposit required of recruitment agencies.

The court issued a restraining order in response to the complaint filed by various federations of recruitment agencies led by the Philippine Association of Service Exporters Inc. (PASEI).

"The new POEA rules would cause irreparable injury to the recruitment industry and to millions of OFWs (overseas Filipino workers)," PASEI said, noting that the regulation has hampered the deployment of thousands of OFWs.

But acting Labor Secretary Manuel Imson expressed confidence that the government would prevail in the end, with the court eventually allowing the POEA to enforce the new regulation.

"The POEA issued the rules after exhaustive research and we believe in its legality. In the past, questions were raised in court (on our regulations) but we have (been) proven right in the end," he said.

Imson stressed that the implementation of the new POEA regulations is necessary to ensure the welfare and safety of Filipino overseas workers.

The Federated Association of Manpower Exporters Inc. (FAME) agreed with POEA on the need for recruitment agencies to comply with the increase in capitalization requirements.

"To avoid suspension, agencies must comply with the requirement," FAME said in a statement.