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MANILA, Philippines -- A Lebanese government panel arrives in the Philippines next month to pursue with its counterparts ways on how to better protect overseas Filipino workers in the eastern Mediterranean state.
The panel will finalize details on the memorandum of agreement on OFW protection earlier proposed by Philippine ambassador to Lebanon Gilbert Asuque as a condition for the resumption of deployment of OFWs there, Joseph Assad, honorary consul of Lebanon to the Philippines
In a statement, Assad expressed optimism that the discussion between the two panels would result in the "early" lifting of the ban on deployment to Lebanon by the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE).
He noted that the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) earlier recommended the lifting of the ban based on its assessment that the political situation in Lebanon had become stable. Assad said the situation in his country has been "progressing further" with the peaceful elections on June 7, during which the pro-Western ruling party gained a majority of the parliamentary seats.
The consul said the recent visit of the new ambassador of Lebanon to the Philippines, Mohammad Al-Harake, who met President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in Malacanańg, "would foster even closer relations between Lebanon and the Philippines."
"[Harake and the panel's visit] will improve and strengthen relations between the two countries as this will remove the barrier which has prevented thousands of Filipinos from working in Lebanon which is now experiencing an economic boom and is in need of thousands of construction workers to complete the infrastructure billion-dollar projects like highways and bridges," Assad said.
The Philippines imposed the OFW ban in July 2006, when the Israel launched military operations in southern Lebanon against the Hezbollah militants.
About 7,000 OFWs, mostly domestic helpers, were evacuated, with more than 25,000 remaining. Assad, citing immigration data from Lebanon, said the ban did not prevent about 46,000 more OFWs from going to his country from 2006 to late 2008.
Despite the easing up of the security situation and political tensions in Lebanon, the DoLE decided early this year to keep the ban.
The Philippine embassy and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) have been aiding scores of Filipinos who raw away from cruel employers. They also monitored the cases of OFWs committing suicides under suspicious circumstances and reports that Lebanon was being used as a jumping point for illegal deployment to neighboring Syria.
Assad said Labor Secretary Marianito Roque, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) chief Jennifer Manalili, and OWWA chief Carmelita Dimzon went to Beirut on May 7 to look into the concerns of OFWs in Lebanon.
The Filipino officials also had a series of high-level talks with Lebanese immigration and labor ministry officials. This resulted in an agreement to craft a memorandum of agreement for OFWs' protection, the details of which was followed up by a technical panel from the Philippines that went to meet Asuque.
However, due to the "fervor" of the Lebanese election campaign, both panels agreed to resume the talks in Manila in July 2009.
"The government's willingness to lift the deployment ban to Lebanon will help undocumented Filipinos now working in Lebanon to be registered as OWWA members and be able to avail of the welfare and protection benefits as documented as well as undocumented workers in Lebanon," Assad said.
According to the consul, Lebanon is experiencing an economic boom with infrastructure projects to rebuild highways and bridges destroyed during the 2006 war.
New hotels and office buildings are now sprouting up in Beirut, which used to be known as the "Paris of the Middle East," due to the return of millions of tourists.
Around 10,000 foreign workers will be needed by Lebanon to fill up the demand of construction companies, hotels, restaurants, resorts and offices, he added.
Assad said the lifting of the ban would also give the POEA "a clear picture" of how Filipinos were working in Lebanon to avoid speculations that there were many who had been illegally staying there.
The lifting, he added, would allow documentation of these illegal OFWs in Lebanon so that OWWA could give them the same protection afforded to documented ones, such as insurance, Philippine Health Insurance (PhilHealth) coverage, burial assistance and scholarship and livelihood assistance for their families.
