Lifting of deployment ban to Jordan eyed

4:16 am | Thursday, April 12th, 2012

The Philippines will send a delegation to Jordan next month to negotiate the eventual lifting of the deployment ban on Filipino domestic workers, a ranking labor official said Wednesday.

Labor Undersecretary Danilo Cruz said Amman had asked Manila to send a delegation to thresh out the standard employment contract for Filipino household service workers (HSWs), which would include, among other things, a $400 monthly basic wage.

In January, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz and Jordanian Labor Minister Maher Al Waked signed an agreement in Amman regulating the recruitment of domestic workers.

A deployment ban was imposed in 2008 after many cases of abuse of contracts and virtual slavery were uncovered.

Baldoz said she hoped the agreement would help stop the flow of undocumented Filipino maids into Jordan.

If successful, the agreement with Jordan could also serve as an example for other countries in the Middle East that are reluctant to agree on giving Filipino maids a $400 basic salary.

“The team could also go to Lebanon after it wraps up its work in Amman. We’ve also signed protocols with Lebanon,” Cruz said.

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Tags: DFA , Foreign affairs , Global Nation , Jordan , Labor , Middle east , Overseas employment

ramonignacio

How can we impose a $400 per month salary for the domestic helpers when wages in Jordan are very low as compared to other countries. Doctors receive only US$500-600 and nurses about $400. If the Philippines insists, then a deal would be almost impossible.
ronaldsinga

The deal is doomed to be dead prior to birth. $400 is out of question. The cost of living is so high in Jordan and the income is so low. These delegations are only wasting their time and the peoples money by traveling and discussing these matters. Stay home and accept the status quo.

Illegal recruiters would be upset. Corrupted immigration officers at NAIA will then give up their luxurious life style.. No my friends. We are in the Philippines are so corrupted, that the devil might consider lessons from us.
billy31

this is another deal that our stupid government is getting into…a trap. The 400US$ agreement is only in paper. As soon as the OFW arrives in Jordan, the contract is substituted into an Arabic Version one where the OFW cannot read. And it it will be much less than 400US$. Jordan is also a poor country with many Palestinian refugees with Jordanian passports. Jordanian citizens have low income (reason why you see a lot of them around countries like KSA, Qatar, etc. also as foreign workers), and they cannot afford to pay 400US$ for a domestic helper…unless he is one of the few rich ones. This contract substitution is so rampant in Middle East Countries, like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Kuwait, Lebanon, etc, etc.

LET US STOP SENDING DOMESTIC HELPERS TO THESE COUNTRIES!!! They will be treated like slaves and will normally be abused, even, sexually!!!

Lifting of deployment ban to Jordan eyed

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