Overseas Filipinos to be assured protection

Manila: Sending Filipino workers to countries where the protection of their rights is not guaranteed will soon be illegal once an amended law protecting overseas workers' rights is passed.

House Bill 5649, which was approved after a third and final reading by the House of Representatives and submitted to a bicameral conference panel recently, seeks to provide more protection to overseas Filipino workers by providing a mechanism where unscrupulous government officials can be held accountable for sending them to countries that do not provide them necessary protection.

The measure amends the ‘Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995' making it unlawful for any official or employee of the Department of Labour to issue the necessary permit for the deployment of migrant workers to countries that cannot guarantee the protection of their rights.

Preconditions

The Migrant Workers Act or RA 8042 states the deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) shall only be in a country which has existing labour and social laws, is a signatory to multilateral conventions, has concluded a bilateral agreement or arrangement with the government, and is taking positive and concrete measures to protect the rights of OFWs.

HB 5649 adds a provision which states that any official or government employee who issues a permit for the deployment of migrant workers to countries where there are no guarantees for the protection of OFWs can be removed or dismissed from service.