‘RP embassy in Japan not profiting from Japayukis’

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) yesterday belied reports that the Philippine embassy in Tokyo profits immensely from fees collected from Japanese recruiters of Filipino workers deployed to Japan.

The DFA said the bond of $20,000 paid by Japanese recruitment agencies for each overseas Filipino worker they hire is actually an escrow bond that the DFA deposits in either the Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) or the Philippine National Bank.

This bond remains in the Philippines — not in the Philippine embassy in Tokyo — and is refundable to the recruitment agency along with the interest that accrues to the money if the recruitment agency closes shop or after the lapse of the prescription period for OFWs to make claims on the bond, the DFA said.

"Such bond serves to back the liability of recruiters who, by law, are jointly liable with the foreign — often unreachable — employers in case of complaints by our (OFWs) against their foreign employers, to whom they are contracted by these agencies," the DFA said in a statement.

According to the DFA, the system has been in place for the last 14 years and was instituted by a circular issued by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in 1991 to protect OFWs in Japan who wish to file claims against their employers, mostly in cases where the OFWs were not paid their wages.

Records from the Philippine embassy in Tokyo showed that in 2004 alone, a total of 1,666 complaints were filed by Filipino entertainers against their employers. The embassy noted the complaints were all resolved because of the existence of the escrow bond.

The 7,000 yen (about $66 or P3,630) charged by the Philippine embassy in Tokyo was also defended by the DFA as the normal fee for each employment contract submitted for authentication and verification. According to the DFA, the collection of this fee is sanctioned by the Labor Code of the Philippines.

Embassies and consulates worldwide routinely charge similar fees for consular services extended to the public in their host countries.

The DFA said the escrow bond is no different from the government’s imposition of a P2-million bond from each non-Japanese recruitment agency that seeks accreditation and licenses to deploy OFWs. — Pia Lee-Brago