Seoul also bans entry of Pinoy workers

South Korea has imposed a ban on the entry of overseas Filipino workers in the wake of a similar ban now in effect in Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates because of SARS.

This developed as the Arroyo administration protested a new classification for the Philippines in the list of countries affected by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.

Jerphi International Placement Agency, a licensed recruitment agency deploying workers to South Korea, said some 50 Filipino trainees were barred from leaving. They expected to leave on May 13, but were not issued tickets.

"The embassy of South Korea temporarily withheld the issuance of visas, apparently because of the SARS issue," said a Jerphi official, who asked not to be identified.

Rosalinda Baldoz, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) chief, confirmed that South Korea has imposed an OFW ban.

"We received information from DFA (the Department of Foreign Affairs), but we do not have an official communication from South Korea," Baldoz said.

She said Libya, South Korea, Taiwan, and Kuwait have restricted the entry of OFWs following the inclusion of the Philippines in the list of SARS-affected countries.

She said that DFA officials were already meeting with the ambassadors of these countries to discuss measures that can be taken to remedy the situation.

She expressed confidence that the OFW ban in these areas will be lifted as soon as the Philippines is removed from the World Health Organization (WHO) list of SARS-affected countries.

Meanwhile, local recruiters warned of a significant drop in dollar remittances and worse economic crises unless the government acts swiftly on the SARS problem.

Philippine Association of Service Exporters (PASEI) said hundreds of OFWs are being kept from leaving the country because of the Philippines’ inclusion in the list of SARS-affected countries.

"The government should do something about it and not wait for Saudi Arabia to start restricting the entry of Filipino workers," PASEI official Lito Soriano said.

If Saudi Arabia, the biggest market for OFW deployment, restricts OFW deployment, Soriano said, the peso-dollar exchange rate could hit a low of P60 to $1.

Soriano said some 1,000 Libya-bound OFWs cannot leave the country because of the OFW ban.

The United Filipinos in Hong Kong (UNIFIL-HK) slammed Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas for being "mule-headed" in maintaining the ban on OFW deployment to Hong Kong.

Eman Villanueva, UNIFIL-HK secretary general, said in a statement that "even the (Philippine) consulate (in Hong Kong) here has admitted that there is indeed a strong sentiment among the migrant community for the ban to be removed."

The ban was implemented on March 10 after the Hong Kong government decided to implement a HK$400 wage cut for all domestic helpers.

Villanueva said OFWs in Hong Kong oppose the deployment ban because "we know that, ultimately, it will backfire (on) the OFWs and our families, for no job is available in the Philippines."

The government’s move to extend the deployment ban because Hong Kong is one of the areas hardest hit by SARS, he added, will "disempower Filipinos and their families to cope with the finances needed to sustain precautionary measures against SARS. It will only make us and our families more vulnerable to the disease."