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MANILA, Philippines?President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will ask Qatari employers to ensure no job loss for overseas Filipino workers when she visits the oil-rich gulf state this week, Labor Secretary Marianito Roque told INQUIRER.net Monday.
Roque, who was recently in Qatar for a briefing among labor attaches on the situation of Filipino workers in the Middle East, will accompany the President to Doha.
"This forthcoming trip is about preserving the employment of Filipinos in Qatar," he said in an interview on the 75th anniversary celebration of the Department of Labor and Employment.
"Whatever we have there we should not lose. We are talking to employers to prevent job loss," he said.
Roque said there are about 145,000 Filipinos in Qatar working in various industries like construction, maintenance, services, and health.
In his last trip to Qatar, the labor chief signed on behalf of the Philippines a memorandum of agreement on using a bilingual English-Arabic employment contract for OFWs.
"This would prevent contract substitution," he said.
