President Duterte MALACAÑANG PHOTO
Bagong Henerasyon Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy, chair of the House committee on women and gender equality, on Thursday welcomed the decision of President Duterte to totally lift the ban on the overseas Filipino workers’ deployment to Kuwait.
In a statement, Dy said congressmen have yet to be updated by Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III on the details of the memorandum of agreement signed by Philippine and Kuwaiti officials for the protection of OFWs.
However, she added that she surmised that the labor department and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration may have “worked double time or even triple time” to address concerns on implementing mechanisms of the memorandum of agreement with the Kuwaitis regarding the protection of OFWs.
Dy suggested that a business group similar to the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industries be set up to unite the manpower recruitment sector and promote “ethical recruitment” among recruitment agencies.
“One important issue external to the MOU is the over-diversity in the overseas recruitment industry sector. There are apparently too many associations and there is no single unifying body or voice representing all of them. One way to achieve this is to form a business chamber similar to the PCCI,” he said.
Dy pointed out that the Philippine Association of Service Exporters, Inc. covers only the skilled workers’ sector and that there appeared to be no single group for household service workers.
“These two sectors should not be separate. They should be one and they should seek membership in the PCCI and the Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines so they can be effective advocates for OFWs,” she added.