INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines–The deployment ban on domestic workers who want to work in Jordan could be lifted within the month, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said Thursday.
Baldoz said the ban could be lifted after a draft copy of the standard employment contract for household service workers was signed by Philippine Overseas Employment Administration chief Hans Leo Cacdac and labor officials in Amman last month.
The draft will then be reviewed by both governments and submitted to Baldoz and her Jordanian counterpart for approval before the ban could be lifted.
“If it’s submitted within the month, then it can be approved by the POEA. The ban could be lifted within the month,” Baldoz said.
The POEA governing board, which Baldoz chairs, has to issue a resolution for the deployment ban to be formally lifted.
The labor chief said that while the $400 basic minimum monthly wage requirement for domestic workers was not specifically mentioned in the draft employment contract, Jordanian authorities had agreed to follow this requirement set by Manila.
Manila had been insistent on the $400 basic monthly salary so that once Amman approves it, wealthier Persian Gulf countries would also be convinced to observe it.
Baldoz said there were 23,475 overseas Filipino workers in Jordan 90 percent of whom were domestic helpers.
“Many of them are undocumented and illegal. If the ban is lifted, then they’ll finally be able to come home and visit their families here and then go back to work,” Baldoz said.
Cacdac had also visited Lebanon but he was unable to sign a standard employment contract for domestic helpers because “the matter is still under discussion.”
Manila maintains a total deployment ban to Lebanon and the signing of a standard employment contract with Beirut was supposed to pave the way for the lifting of the total deployment ban.
The ban was imposed in July 2007 after Lebanon’s conflict with Israel. At that time, there were an estimated 35,000 Filipinos working in that Middle Eastern country but that number had since increased to 50,000 due to the continuing influx of undocumented workers.
In October, Lebanon was among the 41 countries the POEA governing board deemed as unsafe for OFW deployment based on the certification of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Last month, the POEA again reviewed that list of 41 countries and declared that 18 of them were now safe for OFWs. Lebanon was not among the 18 countries.