Plan is to reduce, not stop, deployment of maids abroad, says POEA

MANILA, Philippines—There is no plan to stop the deployment of Filipino domestic helpers abroad over a period of five years, according to Philippine Overseas Employment Administration chief Hans Leo Cacdac.

Cacdac admitted, however, that the agency was studying the possibility of reducing the deployment of new household service workers (HSW) abroad.

“To do this, we will be implementing a tighter enforcement of HSW hiring policies,” he said in a text message, adding that this would include the $400 minimum salary requirement, minimum hiring age of 23, and abolition of placement fees.

Cacdac added that the POEA also planned to provide data on newly hired HSWs to government agencies that have employment programs.

“These data include HSWs’ profile, like age, region, gender, skills, among other information,” he said.

“If there are available options here, then we can reach out to other government agencies involved in employment facilitation,” Cacdac added.

During the past six years, the Philippines deployed 499,495 new maids worldwide, according to POEA records. During the first half of 2012, a total of 72,355 OFWs were employed as household help.

But the figures do not include undocumented OFWs now working as domestic helpers in many countries like Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Italy.