POEA denies discrepancy in 2008 OFW deployment figures

POEA denies discrepancy in 2008 OFW deployment figures

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) on Friday denied allegations that the 2008 overseas Filipino worker (OFW) deployment figures were "padded."

"That's just how we count it," POEA Administrator Jennifer Manalili told GMANews.TV in an interview on Friday.

Manalili issued the statement after recruitment consultant Emmanuel Geslani called their report – which indicated that OFW deployment rose by almost 30 percent in 2008 – as being "incredible, unbelievable, and questionable."

Labor Secretary Marianito Roque earlier reported that the government exceeded its deployment target by more than 300,000 new hires in 2008, an increase of almost 27.8 percent compared to the same period in 2007.

Data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) also showed that 1,376,823 Filipinos left the country to work abroad in 2008.

But Geslani said the increase claimed by POEA is "unheard of in the history of OFW deployment."

"The POEA should clarify or give the public a break-down of the total new hires, re-hires, vacationing workers, sea-based workers who are basically re-hires so that the recruitment sector can analyze the figures since the industry itself admits that there was lower deployment in 2008," he said.

The POEA chief, however, said that new hires should be included in the deployment count.


"Re-hires are counted because they are given new contracts," she said.

Geslani added that more than 30,000 to 50,000 vacationing workers arrive during the month of December, prompting recruiters to believe that the POEA is "padding the numbers with the balik-bayan and re-hires" who normally return during the holidays.

Manalili answered by saying that what the consultant is saying is just a small percentage of the overall statistics.

"Di naman ganun kalaki ang umuuwi kapag December [Those who come home in December are not that many], it will not cause a significant change in the figures," she said. - GMANews.TV

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more