POEA warns recruiters anew on failure to protect HSWs


The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) yesterday
reiterated that recruitment agencies shall be held accountable for incidents of
abuse, exploitation, or breach of contract committed by household employers
against Filipino household service workers.

Administrator Hans Leo J. Cacdac said the recruiters’ failure to abide by their
responsibility to protect OFWs warrants cancellation or suspension of their
licenses, depending on the gravity and frequency of the offenses.

Cacdac said that Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda DimapilisBaldoz has ordered him to hold recruiters true to their responsibility and accountable to the POEA to ensure that foreign employers faithfully comply with their legal and contractual obligations to our domestic workers.
Baldoz has earlier reminded recruitment agency owners not to lose sight of their duty to protect domestic workers deployed overseas.

"The obligation of a licensed recruitment agency to its hired OFWs does not
end upon their deployment to the worksite. The recruitment agency has the
continuous obligation to ensure protection of workers, especially domestic
workers," Secretary Baldoz said.

Cacdac said such legal and contractual obligations include humane treatment,
payment of salaries and benefits, and notification of the Philippine embassy
about any significant development affecting the condition of domestic workers.
Also, the recruitment agency must assist in the settlement of disputes and
report to the POEA any significant or important situation experienced by a
deployed domestic worker.

Cacdac noted that over the last five years, an increasing number of overseas
domestic workers have filed cases against their recruitment agencies and
employers before the POEA. He also noted an increasing number of cases
that involved the death or physical abuse of female domestic workers.

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