POEA to monitor new Saudi policy on maids

The deployment of Filipino domestic helpers to Saudi Arabia is under tight watch amid the kingdom’s implementation of a new policy on the hiring of foreign maids.

Labor and Employment Undersecretary Manuel Imson said the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) would closely monitor the new policy to protect the rights of Filipino domestic helpers.

"The new policy should not give additional burden to the Filipino maids and should be within the bounds of Philippine and Saudi laws, he said.

Starting today, the so-called "unified contract scheme" will take effect, allowing the Saudi Arabian government to process contracts and visas of foreign workers endorsed by the Saudi National Recruitment Committee (SANARCOM) and its local counterpart, Overseas Placement Association of the Philippines (OPAP).

Victor Fernandez, president of the Philippine Association of Service Exporters Inc., said the new arrangement could lead to a massive drop in the deployment of overseas Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia.

"How can we agree with SANARCOM if their unified contract mandates that our workers cannot run away or escape from the harsh conditions our OFWs will be subjected to?" he said.

It could also cause rampant contract substitution, among other violations on the rights of Filipino domestic helpers, he added.

However, Imson said the "unified contract scheme" is considered a private transaction between two recruitment agencies and does not bound the Philippine and Saudi Arabian governments.

Imson said the Department of Labor and Employment would protect the rights and welfare of Filipino domestic helpers in Saudi Arabia, although the Philippine government will not interfere in the private transaction.

"We do not want to interfere with their private transaction but whatever arrangements they arrived at relative to hiring of Filipinos to Saudi Arabia, these should not violate the rights of our OFWs," he said.

The DOLE would run after licensed agencies that violate Philippine laws because of the new recruitment policy in Saudi Arabia, he added.