MANILA, Philippines - Is the battle against Saudi Arabia’s unified contract scheme a lonely fight for Filipino recruiters?
This was the question of the Philippine Association of Service Exporters, Inc (PASEI) on Friday after noting the “deafening silence” of the Philippine government regarding the re-implementation of the Recruitment and Manpower Deployment Contract on September 1.
Philippine recruitment agencies deal directly with employers but under the unified contract scheme, the agencies will have to pass through a Saudi recruitment agency that is a member of the Saudi National Recruitment Committee (Sanarcom).
It remains unclear whether the scheme has already been implemented by the Saudi government. In the July 18, 2008 letter from the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, accredited agencies were informed that the scheme would take effect on August 1, 2008.
The group is appealing to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Office of Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (OUMWA), the Department of Labor and Employment, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) “to come to the defense of the Filipino overseas contract workers (OCWs) whose right, interest and welfare will be put at risk” by the new labor scheme.
According to PASEI, nothing clear came out of the meeting with recruitment agencies and government officials last July 28.
“The letter supposed to be drafted by the POEA conveying to the DFA the strong sense and unanimous objections of the industry stakeholders regarding the implementation of the “Unified Contract” has yet to reach PASEI,” the group said in a statement.
But lawyer Alberto Abalayan, director of Recruitment and Regulation of the POEA told GMANews.TV that they have already forwarded their recommendations to the office of administrator.
“We are hoping for the action from the higher echelons,” said Abalayan in a phone interview on Friday.
Abalayan, who referred to the unified contract scheme as anti-OFW, also fears that if the situation between Filipino recruiters and the Saudi government remains unresolved, there would be a stalemate in labor deployment.
“It might temporarily suspend deployment but let’s see how the private (recruitment) sector acts on it,” he said.
Abalayan said the scheme was junked in 2002 after it met stiff opposition from various Philippine groups from the recruitment industry. The policy then was only meant for Filipino and other foreign household workers. In the new scheme, all Saudi Embassy-accredited recruitment agencies will be covered by the recruitment policy.
The POEA director also hinted that only a bilateral agreement would put a cap on the issue.
Esteban Conejos Jr, DFA undersecretary for migrant workers affairs, said their hands are tied on the issue since “it is a DoLE matter.”
“At this point, this is a labor issue and not yet in the jurisdiction of the DFA,” Conejos said.
But Ablayan said the DFA is aware of the situation and could help in voicing out the concerns of the OFWs in the Middle East.
“It is the DFA that called our attention to this matter,” Ablayan said.
Philippine recruiters have raised fears that they and their recruits will pay additional fees if the scheme takes effect. They claim Sanarcom will act as a “middle man” in the processing of visas for OFWs.
PASEI also said the new labor scheme will lead to the cartelization of overseas employment as well as spawn the practice of contract substitution.
According to the latest Philippine statistics, Saudi Arabia employs more than one million skilled and unskilled Filipino workers making it the top destination for OFWs.
Dito sa kumpanya namin iyong pangalawa sa pinakaboss namin ay mayroon sariling recruiting agency sa pinas at sa tingin ko rito ay mayroon din recruiting agency at sariling company dito sa KSA.
Dapat lang talaga na huwag kayong pumayag. Marami na rin ang nag-aalisan dito at pumupunta sa Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, USA, Canada, South Korea, Dubai, etc. Dahil bukod sa maliit at hindi tumataas ang mga sahod ng ibang pinoy dito, overworked at mataas pa ang mga bilihin dito. In fact sa company namin kada taon simula last year mga approximately 8 Filipinos (manpower strength ng company ay approximately 300) ang hindi nag-rerenew ng contrata dahil pumupunta sa mga bansa na nabanggit ko (ngayon taon ito mga 10 na ang hindi mag-re-renew ng contrata. Sa mga bilang na binibigay ko ay wala pa rito ang mga Indian at Chinese na nag-alisan last year. At sa taong ito mga 9 hanggang 10 ang malamang na hindi mag-renew ng contrata sa grupo nila.
Last year kagagaling ko lang sa vacation, may nakausap akong dalawang maids na nagrereklamo sa akin dahil pinalitan iyong kanilang mga contrata (ibinaba from USD400 to USD250 paglapag daw nila sa KSA.
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