POEA warns Pinoy workers

Date Posted: 03/6/2012

THE Philippine Overseas Employment Administration has warned overseas Filipino workers against using tourist or visit visas to secure overseas employment.

POEA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac stressed that OFWs without proper employment documents are more prone to abuses and exploitation by their employers.

Cacdac said illegal recruiters are using a third or fourth country, usually Asean member countries where a visa is not required of its citizens, and other countries in the Middle East as jump-off points to send Filipino workers to banned destinations.

He added the POEA has existing deployment bans on Iraq, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Libya, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, and Nigeria.

The POEA chief cited the case of undocumented household workers repatriated from Syria and Lebanon who complained of low or unpaid wages, long hours of work, and physical and verbal abuse suffered from their employers.

“The workers were found to have left the country using short-term visit visas,” he said.

Cacdac said Dubai is one of the favorite destinations of Filipino workers wanting to find work overseas.

But Cacdac said a foreigner holding a visit visa is not allowed to work in Dubai and other countries. In addition, holding a visit visa which expires in 60 days has pressured many Filipinos to agree to a substandard employment contract or submit themselves to physical and emotional exploitation.

Date: March 6, 2012
Source: Journal Online
Written by : Lee Ann Ducusin