PH rejects Saudi bid to cut Filipino maids’ pay
MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines has formally rejected the request of Saudi Arabia for a pay cut for Filipino maids working in the kingdom, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said Thursday.
Baldoz said the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) ruled that the $400 minimum salary for Filipino maids working abroad would remain despite the Saudi request that it be brought down to $200 and amid reports it was not being followed in other countries.
“In the last POEA governing board (meeting), it was agreed that we maintain (the minimum salary). As far the POEA governing board is concerned, we will continue to enforce the $400,” Baldoz told reporters.
Saudi diplomats had asked Philippine labor officials to lower the minimum salary of Filipino maids in talks held in Manila last month.
“But since that was on the technical level, our panel said then that they were still going to report to the POEA governing board,” Baldoz said.
Deployment down
Because of the salary dispute, the Saudi government has kept in place its suspension of the deployment of Filipino maids to the kingdom which started in March.
Baldoz said the suspension led to an 80-percent decrease in the number of Filipino maids deployed to Saudi Arabia, with only those returning to their jobs in the kingdom allowed to leave the Philippines.
The country used to send 13,000 household service workers annually to Saudi Arabia.
Baldoz said she would meet with the Saudi labor minister at an international labor conference in Geneva next month to try and patch up any differences.
“I was told that when I go to Geneva in June the Saudi labor minister would want to have a bilateral discussion. So it could be an agenda item or a subject of our meeting,” Baldoz said.
She said that despite the salary dispute, both countries were able to reach some agreements during the meetings in Manila.
“They asked that we relax some of the documentary requirements for employers and we were flexible on that,” Baldoz said.
“We had required a copy of their income tax, clearances and a map showing the location of their houses because some maids serve multiple households when the understanding is they will just serve in one home,” she said.
“Now it is clear that the foreign placement agencies will see to it that these would no longer be needed. There will be guarantees,” she added.
Meanwhile, Baldoz on Thursday presided over the launch of the “Balik Pinay! Balik-Hanapbuhay! Project,” a skills training intervention intended to improve the socioeconomic well-being of returning women Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs).
“With the Balik Pinay! Balik Hanapbuhay! Project, we aim to enable displaced women OFWs to plan, set up, start and operate a livelihood by providing them with a ready-to-go roll-out self-employment package of services consisting of short-gestation training, start-up kits, business counseling, and technical and marketing assistance services,” Baldoz said.
