OFWs prefer UAE, HK, Saudi Arabia

The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Hong Kong remain favorite destinations of overseas Filipino workers in the region.

Philippine Overseas Employment Administration 7 records show that from January to May this year 1,731 workers were deployed to UAE; 1,239 to the KSA, and 972 to Hong Kong. The figures are also higher compared to the same period last year.

However, deployment to KSA this year slightly dropped from last year's record of 2,194. Aside from KSA, the number of workers bound for UAE and Hong Kong and other countries like Singapore and United Kingdom have increased.

Last year, 1,081 workers were deployed to UAE while 882 were deployed to Hong Kong. The number of workers bound for UK have increased to 301 from 277 last year while workers bound for Singapore also increased to 837 from last year's 630.

POEA attributed the increase in the number of deployment this year to big salaries and good working conditions in these countries.

The employment office also noticed quite a number of workers in the region leaving for Japan but they go there not as entertainers but as skilled workers, said Evelia Durato, POEA 7 director. She explained that most of the papers of Japan-bound entertainers are processed in Manila.

POEA data show that from January to May this year, POEA 7 has processed 91 working permits of Japan-bound workers.

Durato said that despite the continuing conflict in Iraq, many OFWs still prefer to go to neighboring Middle East countries because of the good compensation that the employers there are offering the workers. But the ban on deployment of workers to Iraq stays and the labor department is constantly the OFWs working in the nearby countries to avoid crossing the Iraq border to avoid danger.

Yesterday, Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alberto Romulo also reiterated that the ban on the deployment of overseas Filipino workers to Iraq stays until peace and security returns to the war-torn country. He urged the workers to strictly observe the ban and not to insist on seeking employment in Iraq.