Manila: The foreign affairs department vowed to launch a campaign in 2011 to get 100 countries comply with the government's demand for insurance scheme for hired overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), a senior official said.
The campaign will be undertaken by representatives of the labour and foreign affairs departments, said labour secretary Rosalinda Baldoz.
The amended Labour Migration Act stated a hiring requirement, that foreign countries that hire Filipino workers must have a certification from the Philippine foreign affairs department, that they are safe and eligible in providing protection to OFWs. Foreign employers must also provide insurance coverage to OFWs.
Reform programmes
Foreign employers will soon get the know the importance of reform programmes initiated by the Philippine government in 2010, explained Baldoz, adding that the Philippine government has been implementing various reforms for the improvement of the working conditions of OFWs so that they can provide better services while working abroad.
However, no foreign countries have secured certification from Manila's DFA office at the end of 2010.
The campaign of the Philippine government will be extended to local and foreign recruiters who have been against the amended labour migration act, said a senior labour official who requested for anonymity.
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said there was a slight decline in the hiring of Filipino workers because of the newly approved hiring requirement.
Local recruiters allegedly stopped processing overseas employment of Filipino workers, in protest over the new mandatory insurance scheme.
Local recruiters are allegedly planning to file a petition before the court to stop the law's implementation.
At the same time, employers from Taiwan, Hong Kong and countries in the Middle East said they opposed the mandatory insurance coverage.
Despite these reports and the economic meltdown in developed countries that have been hosting OFWs,
POEA said that 1.07 million Filipinos were hired abroad in 2010.
POEA has also strengthened its job placement services in order to increase the number of OFWs deployed abroad.
The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) has strengthened social and financial services extended to OFWs and their relatives.
From January to December 2010, OWWA has repatriated close to 2,000 distressed OFWs, majority of them women who worked in various Middle East countries.
