Govt can’t stop Pinoys from working abroad —POEA


The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration cannot stop Filipinos from working abroad, despite government efforts at discouraging them, POEA administrator Bernard Olalia said Wednesday.
In a report on "Dobol B sa News TV" Olalia said that all the government could do is make sure there are laws in place to protect the Filipino overseas contract workers in their respective countries of destination.
"Hindi rin natin mape-prevent sila dahil nga, sabi ko nga, it's an opportunity for them. But we make sure yoong kanilang full protection," he said.
The POEA aims to send Filipinos only to countries with existing bilateral labor agreements with the Philippines.
"The thrust of our government is to deploy workers kung saan meron tayong bilateral labor agreements of any mutual understanding, so that we assure the protection of our workers," said Olalia.
Foreign affairs and labor officials are negotiating with Kuwait for a bilateral agreement that will ensure the safety of overseas workers following the discovery of domestic worker Joanna Demafelis inside a freezer, and the scores of deaths of Filipinos in the Gulf state, particularly in 2016 and 2017.
The Philippine government said it is seeking more "pragmatic" measures from the agreement before the ban on deployment of first-time Filipino workers to Kuwait could be lifted. —Rie Takumi/LBG, GMA News

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