16 undocumented OFWs stopped at NAIA

MANILA, Philippines - Sixteen would-be overseas Filipinos workers (OFWs) were stopped from leaving the country on Thursday for failing to present the required documents for legal deployment, Vice President Noli De Castro said.

Citing reports from the Task Force Against Illegal Recruitment (Tfair), De Castro said the workers were supposed to board a Cathay Pacific flight at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) but immigration officials barred them from leaving.

He said the workers failed to present required documents such as work visas from the country where they are supposed to work and overseas employment certificates from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).

The 16 were supposed to go to Mali in western Africa to work as miners.

They were just the latest batch of workers to be barred by the Tfair and Bureau of Immigration from leaving the country. More than a hundred workers have been stopped from departing this year at the NAIA and at Clark Field for lack of work documents.

“Filipino workers who depart for overseas jobs without complying with requirements from the POEA usually encounter problems and it is better to prevent them from departing to save them from misery," said De Castro in a statement.

He explained that undocumented OFWs are vulnerable to exploitation abroad because they have no legal standing in their places of work. And when they get in trouble, they are also not covered by protection from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).

Meanwhile, De Castro instructed the POEA and Tfair to fight human trafficking without delaying the departure of outbound Filipino workers.

A recruitment consultant was earlier quoted saying the fast processing of OFWs has contributed to the surge in human trafficking cases in Philippine airports.

Da Castro said that while human trafficking is a serious global concern, it does not warrant “unnecessary delays" in the departure of OFWs whose earnings have constantly kept the country's economy afloat.

“I believe there is a way to establish balance between fighting crime and allowing our countrymen to find opportunities in foreign lands," said De Castro. - Kimberly Jane T. Tan, GMANews.TV

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