MANILA, Philippines — Around 400 Filipino caregivers are set to be deployed to Israel before the end of May amid the ongoing conflict there, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said.
However, POEA Administrator Bernard Olalia said the Israeli government has assured that the caregivers will be deployed to residential areas far from violence amid the conflict between Israel’s military and Palestinian militants.
Olalia said the counterpart of the POEA in Israel has not mentioned any suspension of the deployment. He also noted that under Alert Level 1, there is no ban on the deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Israel.
“Mabuti naman na wala pang abiso na hindi itutuloy. Ibig sabihin nito, tuloy ang deployment ng ating mga kababayan na caregivers. Home-based caregivers po ito, mahigit 400 na pupunta sa Israel,” he said in an online media forum.
(There is no advice on the suspension of deployment. This means the deployment will push through. These are home-based caregivers, over 400 of them will go to Israel.)
Olalia assured that labor authorities will repatriate the caregivers if their safety will be endangered.
According to Olalia, a second batch composed of around 500 Filipino caregivers may also be deployed to Israel by July or August.
There are around 600 Filipinos who have already applied to be part of the second batch, said Olalia.
He added that the number of applicants had increased after the Israeli government relaxed its education requirement for caregivers from the previous 12 years of education to a minimum of 10 years, which means that Filipinos who have graduated from high school could apply for caregiver posts in Israel.
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