More jobs for Pinoys in South Korea

MANILA, Philippines - South Korea has raised this year’s employment quota for skilled Filipino workers hired under the Employment Permit System (EPS).

Administrator Hans Cacdac of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said yesterday the current quota for overseas Filipino workers is 8,000, or a hundred more than last year’s figure.         

“While most of the 15 sending countries under the EPS have received a reduced quota due to the reduction of the overall quota for EPS of 53,000, the Philippines is an exception and this is, indeed, a good sign,” he said.          

Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz is confident that the country’s EPS quota will continue to increase because of the Filipinos’ good performance and a steady drop in the number of illegal Filipinos.

Last year, Baldoz reported a huge reduction in the number of Filipinos illegally staying in South Korea after the end of their EPS employment contract from 30.6 percent in 2012 to only 22.7 percent in 2013.            

An estimated 8,247 Filipino EPS workers are still illegally staying in South Korea, but Baldoz said the POEA is determined to further reduce the number to achieve an increase in the Philippines’ EPS quota.            

Baldoz said South Korea’s annual quota for foreign workers under EPS is decided through comprehensive consideration on the rate of illegal stay of workers, among other factors, including labor market trends, level of labor shortages, and economic condition.           

Based on POEA data, the Philippines has deployed a total of 35,936 workers to South Korea since the implementation of the EPS program in 2004.            

The South Korean government adopted the EPS to introduce non-professional foreign workers in its small and medium industries under a transparent and efficient process of selecting, sending and receiving foreign workers through a government-to-government arrangement.            

The program benefited both countries for the past 10 years, Baldoz said.  

Package of benefits

Workers are awaiting a bigger package of benefits as a Labor Day gift from President Aquino on May 1.             

Alan Tanjusay, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) spokesman, said workers hope that Aquino would announce a more substantial package of benefits than those granted during past Labor Day celebrations.