Gov’t eyes limiting deployment of engineers, construction workers abroad

After pilots, the government is now eyeing restrictions on the deployment of overseas Filipino engineers and other skilled construction workers.

Local recruiters yesterday reported plans of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and other concerned agencies to implement this new regulation.

Philippine Association of Service Exporters Inc. (PASEI) president Vic Fernandez said based on a memorandum of agreement with the construction industry, the POEA would require departing construction workers to seek clearance from major construction associations before they could work abroad.

The agreement, Fernandez said, is meant to resolve the alarming shortage of engineers and other construction workers in the country.

Under the agreement, the construction industry sector would actively assist the government in actively implementing a skills training program to ensure steady supply of qualified engineers, architects and other construction skilled workers.

Fernandez noted that the major construction companies would then submit the names of these trainees to the POEA so that they could be placed under the “white list.”

“Those under the white list cannot leave and work abroad until they are able to secure a clearance from the major construction industry association, which is a sort of restriction,” Fernandez pointed out.

The local construction industry is reportedly having difficulty filling up manpower requirements because many Filipino construction workers are opting to work overseas.

Fernandez said construction workers should not be prevented from leaving if they want to and instead should just be required to pay back the cost of their training.

“The recruitment industry believes this regulation is unfair for the Filipino construction workers that is why we are strongly against it,” Fernandez said in an interview.

According to Fernandez, the local recruitment industry was among the signatories to the memorandum of agreement, but he declined to sign the proposal.

The agreement is now awaiting approval of the POEA, TESDA, Philippine Overseas Construction Board, Construction Manpower Development Foundation, construction and recruitment industries.

A few years ago, the POEA started implementing a policy requiring Filipino pilots who would work abroad to notify their employer six months before leaving their local employment.

The POEA implemented this policy upon the request of the aviation industry, which has been reeling from the exodus of pilots and mechanics. – Mayen Jaymalin