Malacanang created Overseas Preparedness and Response Team to handle crises situations affecting Filipinos abroad

 

Malacañang has created a new, high-level team to strengthen the government’s ability to respond to the needs of overseas Filipino workers faced with political conflict and natural disasters in the countries where they toil.

Executive Order No. 34, signed on April 6 by President Benigno Aquino III and Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. establishes the Overseas Preparedness and Response Team under the Office of the President. It replaces the Middle East Preparedness Team that was formed in 2002 to deal with the evacuation of thousands of Filipino workers in the Middle East during the crisis in Iraq.

The EO mandates that the OPRT be composed of the executive secretary as chairperson and the presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers’ concerns and the secretaries of the Departments of Foreign Affairs, Labor and Employment, National Defense, Justice, the Interior and Local Government, and Budget and Management as members.

The presidential adviser on migrant workers is Vice President Jejomar Binay.

The high-level crisis team has been tasked to draw up strategies and programs and to formulate policies to appropriately respond to crisis situations affecting Filipinos abroad. It shall develop and adopt interactive operating arrangements among agencies to effect maximum coordination.

The panel may call upon any department or agency of the government or private-sector group and coordinate with bilateral and multilateral partners in the formulation and implementation of plans, programs and policies.

“Natural disasters, civil unrest, armed conflicts and similar crises in foreign countries expose overseas Filipinos to immediate hazards and risks,” Ochoa said in a statement regarding the EO.

“So, it is only imperative that we establish a measure and a system that would ensure the safety and welfare of our countrymen abroad,” he added.

VP Binay pushing for the creation of an “OFW Bank"

To bring down the cost of sending money to the Philippines, Vice President Jejomar Binay said Wednesday he is pushing for the creation of an “OFW Bank."

Binay — also the Presidential Adviser on OFWs’ Concerns — wrote to President Benigno Aquino III pushing for the proposed bank as an “alternative yet viable" remittance institution here and abroad.

“The bank will provide fair competition towards the reduction or lowering of remittance or transaction costs and provide a productive outlet for our overseas Filipinos’ savings as bank investors and shareholders," he said in the letter posted on the Office of the Vice President’s website.

Binay said the move was in response to OFWs’ (overseas Filipino workers) clamor for an OFW Bank, as financial intermediaries and money brokers are presently charging exorbitant fees for money transfers.

Government financial institutions will initially fund and underwrite the bank, according to the Vice President said.

Eventually, investors and stockholders will own and control the OFW Bank, Binay said.

Money sent home by OFWs rose to $15.46 billion in the first 10 months of the year, up 7.9 percent from $14.23 billion in the same period last year, central bank data showed.

A chunk of the remittances came from the US, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Japan, UK, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Italy, Germany, and Norway.

The idea for an OFW Bank was raised in 2006 as a way of consolidating the financial assets and operational capabilities of government institutions, like Land Bank of the Philippines, Development Bank of the Philippines, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, and Philippine Postal Corp.

The project was supposed to create a financial institution for OFWs, one that is inexpensive and more focused toward its OFW-oriented direction and services. Because of the global recession, it was shelved.

Instead, LandBank and DBP launched separate remittance programs for the lucrative OFW market estimated by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration between eight million and 11.5 million land- and sea-based employees.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas: OFW remittances total $1.67 billion in October

The money sent home by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) totaled $1.673 billion in October, a new monthly record signaling the advent of money transfers for the Christmas season, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Wednesday.

The remittances in October brought to $15.456 billion the amount of money remitted by OFWs in first 10 months of the year, up 7.9 percent from $14.231 billion in the same period last year.

BSP Gov. Amando Tetangco Jr. said in a statement the remittances in October grew by $142 million or 9.3 percent from $1.531 billion booked a year earlier.

The remittances in October also eclipsed the $1.623-billion record registered in June.

"Remittances from overseas Filipinos coursed through banks grew 9.3 percent in October 2010 to reach $1.7 billion, the highest monthly level posted during the year," Tetangco stressed.

"The sustained remittance flows into the country were due to the sustained robust demand for skilled and professional Filipinos," he added.

The remittances that accounted for 84 percent of the total and coursed through banks came from the US, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Japan, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Italy, Germany, and Norway.

More job opportunities

Job orders that have been approved totaled 578,535 in the first 11 months, according to Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).

These orders were for the service and production sectors as well as professional, technical, and related fields in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

More Filipinos would be deployed after the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported employers in Algeria plan to hire more workers for infrastructure projects, according to the BSP.

The construction of a military base in Guam next year will also open more job opportunities for OFWs, the central bank said.

"Looking ahead, the deployment outlook for Filipinos overseas also remained upbeat, given continuing bilateral talks with some host countries aimed at matching manpower requirements with the competencies of Filipino workers," the BSP chief said.

Global remittance networks

There are continuing efforts to improve the variety and coverage of the global remittance networks, enabling OFWs to transfer money using more innovative financial services.

"This, combined with the increasing presence of bank and non-bank money transfer conduits, both locally and internationally, as well as the expanding range of products and services offered by financial intermediaries to overseas Filipinos and their beneficiaries, contributed to the strong inflow of remittances," Tetangco explained.

In 2009, remittances went up 5.4 percent to a record $17.348 billion from $16.426 billion in 2008 exceeding the revised 4-percent forecast by the central bank.

Returning OFWs get a free rides from Airport to Bus Terminals

As part of its efforts to honor overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), the government is giving returning OFWs a free ride to bus terminals where they can get a ride to their home provinces during the holidays.

Radio dzBB's Denver Trinidad reported Monday the free rides are part of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration's "Pamaskong Handog (Christmas offering)."

The report quoted OWWA Administrator Carmelita Dimzon as saying the returning OFWs will be ferried from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to different bus terminals.

On the other hand, Dimzon said she has ordered OWWA personnel at the NAIA terminals doubled to attend to the needs of returning OFWs.

On Monday afternoon, President Benigno Simeon Aquino III will personally lead officials in welcoming OFWs returning home for the holidays.

Aquino is expected to hand out raffle prizes to lucky OFWs, the report said.

PNoy welcome returning OFWs at NAIA

President Benigno Aquino III will go to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Monday to welcome returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

The move would symbolize the government's high regard for OFWs, whose remittances sustain the economy, radio dzBB reported Sunday.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration chief Carmelita Dimzon will be with the President.

With luck, three OFWs will get cash and non-cash prizes in a raffle, according to dzBB.

His administration will make working abroad an "option" instead of a necessity for Filipinos, the President earlier said.

During the campaign for the May 10 elections, Aquino lamented that poverty continued to force many Filipinos for better paying jobs abroad.

Hiring Filipino maids harder as Philippines enforces Republic Act No. 8042

A RECENT tightening of Philippine laws has made it tougher for employers in Singapore to hire Filipinas as domestic workers.

Immigration screening has been stepped up, and those bound for jobs here without the proper papers have been stopped from leaving the country.

The amendments to the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995 (REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8042) is aimed at improving the ‘protection and welfare’ of Filipino migrant workers, said the Philippine embassy here.

Changes to the law were passed last year, but the rules implementing the law were issued only on July 28, said a Philippine government website.

Manpower agencies in the Philippines said Singapore is not being specifically targeted, but the Philippine authorities want to put a lid on Filipinos leaving for jobs abroad without going through Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) procedures.

The POEA issues a Filipino seeking work overseas an Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC), explained Mr Rodolfo Sabulao, the labour attaché at the Philippine embassy here.

To get that certificate, the job seeker must have supporting documents, including a standard employment contract verified by the Philippine Overseas Labour Office (POLO) and authenticated by the Philippine embassy or consulate.

POEA also requires these job seekers to be trained, so as to prepare them for their overseas work stints.

Nine Singapore agents who spoke to The Straits Times said they have stopped bringing in Filipinas as domestic workers as it has become too troublesome.

The Straits Times understands that some agents have been getting around the regulations by working with Philippine travel agents to get the women out of their country as tourists first.

That done, the Singapore agents provide the women with an In-Principle Approval (IPA) letter or Letter of Notification from the Manpower Ministry, so that they can enter Singapore legally.

The domestic workers then sign local contracts provided by the Association of Employment Agencies (Singapore), which is recognised by the Manpower Ministry.

Mr Sabulao said: ‘As far as the Philippine government is concerned, leaving the Philippines as a tourist, when the intention is to work overseas, is illegal, even if they have an IPA.’

Illegal or not, Filipinos are doing it. Seven in 10 Filipino maids here do not have POEA papers. This is an estimate by Ms Thelma Uanang, who runs Philquest, a POEA-registered Manila-based recruitment agency which sends about 65 maids a month here the legitimate way.

About 196,000 foreigners were here as maids as of last December, with Filipinas remaining popular because they speak English. This is why some agents still bring them in, even if the new rules may mean waiting longer for the maid to arrive – up to three weeks, as opposed to a week back when the rules were more lax.

Employers might also have to pay more: The contract verified by POLO secures for maids a salary of $540 and four days off a month, said Mr Sabulao.

But agents say employers here seldom agree to pay a new Filipino domestic worker more than $350 to $370. Some are also reluctant to give maids days off.

Mr Edmund Pooh of the Universal Employment Agency here said: ‘The Philippine government has good intentions, but on the other hand, they’re making it difficult for their people to get a job, as most employers won’t agree to such terms.’

But the Philippine government is sticking to its guns.

Said Mr Sabulao: ‘If workers are deployed and leave as tourists and don’t have proper documentation, nobody is held accountable. If they are injured, who will be liable?’

source: straitstimes.com