Saudi recruiters endorse RP's 'supermaid' policy
MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine government has secured the support of the Saudi National Recruitment Committee for its policy in the deployment of domestic workers, which has ironically been widely criticized by militant groups of migrants as anti-Filipino worker.
The policy that has been carried out since December 2006 instituted drastic reforms including the doubling of the minimum monthly wage from $200 to $400 for Filipinos working as maids in other countries.
It also officially reclassified Filipino maids as household service workers, or HSWs, who are required to undergo language proficiency test and skills training and assessment under the government-run Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, respectively.
Tesda-certified workers will be issued Certificate of Competency. Domestic helpers with years of experience as household workers abroad can directly go through Tesda skills assessment system.
Migrant groups like Migrante have been demanding the scrapping of the policy which they consider as just another government approach to “extort" money from overseas Filipino workers through the collection of training fees.
They also viewed it as a disincentive to foreign employers to hire Filipinos because of the higher salary rate compared with those from other Asian countries like India and Bangladesh.
Under the policy, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration will not process contracts of employment of domestic helpers without the Tesda-issued COC and the OWWA-issued certificate of completion of the orientation of country-specific language and culture.
It also contained a "no-placement-fee" provision for host countries where laws and regulation requires the employer to pay the cost of hiring.
But OFWs said government agencies are incapable of monitoring its strict implementation, citing cases where the workers end up paying exorbitant recruitment fees either before deployment or through salary deductions upon employment overseas.
Recruitment agencies found collecting processing or recruitment fees from OFWs are supposed to be penalized with cancellation of their license to operate.
The POEA said that with highly trained household workers, recruiters in the Philippines can demand higher service fees from employers, which include the placement fee that is usually asked from the worker.
Also under the policy, the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (POLO) should be strict in their pre-qualification system to determine the employer’s fitness to hire domestic workers, including personal interview of the employer.
The POLO and the POEA are authorized to blacklist employers who have committed cases of abuse and maltreatment against Filipino workers and cases of contractual breaches especially non-payment or underpayment of salaries.
Labor Secretary Arturo Brion said bragged about the Sanarcom’s support for the policy, saying it was the product of his agency’s intensified promotion in the Kingdom despite opposition from employers, recruitment agencies and OFWs there.
Sanarcom chair Saad N. Al Baddah expressed his group’s support to the Philippine government policy through Rustico dela Fuente, the Philippine labor attache in Riyadh. Sanarcom is an affiliate of the Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
Brion said Dela Fuente noted that Sanarcom was among those initially criticizing the POEA-issued policy. In 2007, he noted that Sanarcom even advised recruitment agencies in Saudi Arabia against accepting applications for domestic workers from the Philippines.
After patiently articulating the rationale behind the reform measures and answering issues raised against it, Brion said the Philippine embassy and labor attaché in Riyadh finally managed to convince the Saudi Chambers of Commerce and the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the soundness of the deployment scheme.
He said Sanarcom eventually threw its support behind the HSW policy last month when Dela Fuente issued to Saad's recruitment agency the certificate of pre-qualification indicating the latter's consent to participate in implementing the POEA guidelines.
Brion said Dela Fuente and Filipino Ambassador Antonio Villamor also held an "appreciation meeting" late last year with 25 Saudi manpower agencies which supported the HSW policy.
“The momentum of private sector support, however, could not be complete without the open patronage of Sanarcom," Brion said, stressing the committee's support was a major breakthrough in the country's efforts to promote the HSW policy and ensure the welfare of Filipino HSWs in the Gulf region.
Sanarcom's support also shows that many Saudis still prefer Filipino skills and are willing to hire Filipino HSWs despite the availability of
The policy that has been carried out since December 2006 instituted drastic reforms including the doubling of the minimum monthly wage from $200 to $400 for Filipinos working as maids in other countries.
It also officially reclassified Filipino maids as household service workers, or HSWs, who are required to undergo language proficiency test and skills training and assessment under the government-run Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, respectively.
Tesda-certified workers will be issued Certificate of Competency. Domestic helpers with years of experience as household workers abroad can directly go through Tesda skills assessment system.
Migrant groups like Migrante have been demanding the scrapping of the policy which they consider as just another government approach to “extort" money from overseas Filipino workers through the collection of training fees.
They also viewed it as a disincentive to foreign employers to hire Filipinos because of the higher salary rate compared with those from other Asian countries like India and Bangladesh.
Under the policy, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration will not process contracts of employment of domestic helpers without the Tesda-issued COC and the OWWA-issued certificate of completion of the orientation of country-specific language and culture.
It also contained a "no-placement-fee" provision for host countries where laws and regulation requires the employer to pay the cost of hiring.
But OFWs said government agencies are incapable of monitoring its strict implementation, citing cases where the workers end up paying exorbitant recruitment fees either before deployment or through salary deductions upon employment overseas.
Recruitment agencies found collecting processing or recruitment fees from OFWs are supposed to be penalized with cancellation of their license to operate.
The POEA said that with highly trained household workers, recruiters in the Philippines can demand higher service fees from employers, which include the placement fee that is usually asked from the worker.
Also under the policy, the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (POLO) should be strict in their pre-qualification system to determine the employer’s fitness to hire domestic workers, including personal interview of the employer.
The POLO and the POEA are authorized to blacklist employers who have committed cases of abuse and maltreatment against Filipino workers and cases of contractual breaches especially non-payment or underpayment of salaries.
Labor Secretary Arturo Brion said bragged about the Sanarcom’s support for the policy, saying it was the product of his agency’s intensified promotion in the Kingdom despite opposition from employers, recruitment agencies and OFWs there.
Sanarcom chair Saad N. Al Baddah expressed his group’s support to the Philippine government policy through Rustico dela Fuente, the Philippine labor attache in Riyadh. Sanarcom is an affiliate of the Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
Brion said Dela Fuente noted that Sanarcom was among those initially criticizing the POEA-issued policy. In 2007, he noted that Sanarcom even advised recruitment agencies in Saudi Arabia against accepting applications for domestic workers from the Philippines.
After patiently articulating the rationale behind the reform measures and answering issues raised against it, Brion said the Philippine embassy and labor attaché in Riyadh finally managed to convince the Saudi Chambers of Commerce and the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the soundness of the deployment scheme.
He said Sanarcom eventually threw its support behind the HSW policy last month when Dela Fuente issued to Saad's recruitment agency the certificate of pre-qualification indicating the latter's consent to participate in implementing the POEA guidelines.
Brion said Dela Fuente and Filipino Ambassador Antonio Villamor also held an "appreciation meeting" late last year with 25 Saudi manpower agencies which supported the HSW policy.
“The momentum of private sector support, however, could not be complete without the open patronage of Sanarcom," Brion said, stressing the committee's support was a major breakthrough in the country's efforts to promote the HSW policy and ensure the welfare of Filipino HSWs in the Gulf region.
Sanarcom's support also shows that many Saudis still prefer Filipino skills and are willing to hire Filipino HSWs despite the availability of
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