'More Pinoys leaving to work as domestic helpers abroad'

MANILA, Philippines - More Filipinos are leaving to work as domestic helpers abroad, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said yesterday.

POEA deputy administrator Stella Banawis said the past weeks saw a sudden surge in the number of Filipino household workers seeking employment abroad.

“We have recorded a 152 percent increase in overseas employment certificate being processed two weeks after the initial implementation of the mandatory insurance coverage, but we have to consider that many of these applicants were household workers,” she said.

Local recruiters believed the government would ban the deployment of household workers next year in strictly implementing the amended Migrants Workers Act, Banawis said.

The government will ban the deployment of Filipino workers in countries without a certification from the Department of Foreign Affairs of mandatory insurance coverage for OFWs, according to POEA Administrator Jennifer Manalili.

Banawis said the POEA previously posted more than 52 percent drop in the number of processed applications after the first week of the insurance coverage implementation.

After the initial drop, the number of applications is now back to the average daily volume of about a thousand applicants, she added.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said Congress is looking into the complaints of local recruiters and foreign employers on the insurance scheme.

“Since it is already a law, our hands are tied so we have just referred the matter to Congress for necessary review and amendment,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has assured Filipino workers employed in a nickel and cobalt mine in Madagascar of government assistance.

Four of the 2,000 Filipino workers returned home after accusing their employer, Kents Engineers and Contractors, of non-payment of overtime and other unfair labor practices.

Nicon Fameronag, DOLE spokesman, said the DOLE and other attached agencies are ready to help workers who would file complaints against their foreign employer.