DOLE close to sealing bilateral labor agreement with Moscow


February 24, 2020
 

By

Lee Ann P. Ducusin
 
People's Journal

THE Department of Labor and Employment has announced that it is close to finalizing a bilateral labor agreement (BLA) with Moscow.

“We are confident that the BLA with Moscow will soon be finalized in line with our commitment to provide protection and support for OFWs as we continue to see increasing demand for our workers in that part of the world,” Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said.
Bello said both countries are keen on signing a BLA amid burgeoning requirement for skilled and semi-skilled workers in Russia, citing a report made by the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Berlin, Germany.
The report also stated that Moscow recently amended a law relating to local employment of local skilled workers in order to accommodate foreign workers.
In September last year, Bello mandated the department’s labor office in Berlin to extend its services to cover OFWs in Russia and to actively pursue a BLA with Moscow.
Meanwhile, 1,000 OFWs in Russia, mostly female household service workers, have registered for membership with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), Bello said.
“We are elated by their decision to register with OWWA as members, and as such will now allow them to have insurance coverage. Their membership will also enable them to access free skills and entrepreneurship training, not to mention scholarship for their children, return and reintegration preparedness and other programs,” he added.
The Philippine embassy in Moscow, Russia recently held an outreach program intended to entice OFWs to register or renew their respective membership with OWWA.

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