YEARENDER: Ebola outbreak, conflicts kept DOLE busy in 2014

MANILA, Philippines - The threat of war and disease that could imperil the lives of thousands of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) kept the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) busy in 2014.

In an effort to ensure the safety and health of Filipino workers, DOLE and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) opted to stop the deployment of OFWs to 15 countries faced with Ebola outbreak and security problems.

At the start of the year, the POEA imposed a temporary suspension in the deployment of newly hired OFWs bound for Bangkok and three other areas in Thailand due to escalating civil unrest.

Several months later, the POEA also barred the deployment of OFWs to Ukraine and Venezuela due to security concerns.

The government had also ordered a total deployment ban and a mandatory repatriation of OFWs from Libya.

Thousands repatriated

Over 4,000 Filipinos working in Libya have returned home since the government ordered mandatory repatriation in May last year, with the biggest batch of repatriates arriving on board government-chartered flights last August.

The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) provided the repatriates, most of whom were professionals, with P10,000 financial grant upon arrival in the country.

However, many among them expressed their desire to seek re-employment abroad even after the government offered them local employment and other alternative sources of livelihood.

DOLE and POEA also imposed a total deployment ban to Iraq, Kurdistan, Afghanistan and Yemen, and issued a temporary suspension in the sending of Filipino workers to Kenya, West Bank, Israel and Gaza all due to peace and order problems.

Before the end of the year, the government had resumed deployment of workers to Thailand, Venezuela, Israel and the West Bank.

The government has also allowed deployment of certain categories of workers to Libya, Afghanistan and Gaza, but the total deployment ban in six countries remained.

Ebola and MERS-CoV

Late in the year, POEA officially imposed a total deployment ban to Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia due to the prevailing Ebola epidemic.

As early as April, DOLE had advised OFWs in the three countries to take necessary precautions against the potentially deadly infection.

No Filipino worker abroad has been afflicted with the virus although the government has required all returning workers from Ebola-hit countries to secure medical clearance prior to their return and to undergo a 21-day quarantine upon arrival in the country.

DOLE and POEA have also adopted new guidelines to protect Filipinos, including seafarers, from the Ebola virus.

Last April, the DOLE and POEA also advised Middle East-bound Filipino workers to take necessary precautions against the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV).

The government did not impose travel restrictions to the Middle East but required OFWs to monitor their health for 14 days and to contact the Bureau of Quarantine if they develop symptoms of the infection.

POEA administrator Hans Leo Cacdac further directed recruitment agencies to conduct special briefings on precautionary measures against MERS-CoV for departing Filipino workers.

Discounted maids

This year, DOLE barred two Singapore-based employment agencies from recruiting Filipino household service workers (HSWs) over allegations of selling foreign domestic helpers like commodities.

DOLE requested the Singapore government to investigate the controversy, but the latter denied the allegations that foreign domestic workers are being put on display in shopping malls.

Based on a report by Al Jazeera, foreign domestic helpers, including Filipinos, are being inappropriately displayed at employment agencies’ premises and advertised as “available for hire at discounted prices.”