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MANILA, Philippines--A group of recruitment leaders has asked the government to grant special visas to employers of overseas Filipinos workers (OFWs) to boost the recruitment of, and continued preference for, OFWs amid the global economic slowdown.
In a letter sent to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Friday, the recruiters called for the extension to OFW employers the benefits of Executive Order No. 758, which granted special visas for employment generation (SVEGs) to foreigners who could employ at least 10 Filipinos in the country.
?In the same spirit and intention to generate employment especially overseas jobs employers abroad, meaning non-immigrant foreigners who in their capacity as owners, officers, directors and managers of foreign companies who have provided overseas employment to at least 50 or even 100 Filipinos should also be granted a special visa,? said the group's leader Lito Soriano, executive director of the Federated Association of Manpower Exporters.
Under the EO 758, which was issued last November, a foreigner with an SVEG would be considered special non-immigrants with multiple entry privileges and conditional extended stay, without need of prior departure from the Philippines.
The visa may also be extended to the applicant?s spouse and dependents under 18 years old, whether legitimate, illegitimate or adopted.
Aside from Soriano, other recruiters who signed the letter to the President included Ezekiel Alunen, a former member of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration governing board, and Francisco de Guzman, a former president of the Philippine Association of Service Exporters Inc.
?The SVEG scheme will be a very attractive incentive for foreign employers to retain OFWs and even hire more Filipinos in the coming years as they would be afforded special benefits and privileges befitting their contribution to the Philippines,? Soriano said.
The group said SVEGs could be given to migrant worker employers from the Middle East, a major destination of overseas Filipino workers and source for dollar remittances that help Philippine economy in the past 30 years.
