Government to lift ban on OFW deployment to Lebanon

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) will lift the ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to Lebanon once the new guidelines on the training of overseas-bound domestic workers are approved.

POEA Administrator Rosalinda Baldoz admitted the deployment ban has resulted in the illegal entry of Filipino maids in Lebanon.

Lebanese traders are reportedly offering Filipino recruiters P75,000 to P100,000 and an "incentive fee’’ of $2,000 for every worker deployed.

"We are hoping to implement the package of reforms that would ensure the welfare of Filipino domestic helpers so we could also lift the deployment ban in Lebanon," Baldoz said.

Baldoz said the Bureau of Immigration reported that Filipino workers are defying the deployment ban and are entering Lebanon using Bangkok, Thailand or Syria as jump-off points.

The new policy requires domestic helpers who plan to work abroad to undertake skills training so they can command higher salaries, she added.

She said the new guidelines are ready and just awaiting the approval of the POEA board, possibly by mid-November.

Local recruitment agencies reported that at least 100 OFWs arrive daily in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, despite the government ban.

Labor Secretary Arturo Brion, for his part, admitted that cases of illegal deployment of workers to Lebanon and other countries abroad have risen.

"We do not have documented data because this is a hidden crime but we know that illegal recruitment is a very big problem," Brion said.

Brion has proposed the issuance of an executive order that would return to the POEA from the Commission on Filipinos Overseas the responsibility of fighting illegal recruitment.

Brion said the POEA launched yesterday a multimedia information campaign for aspiring OFWs to protect them from illegal recruiters.

Baldoz said the POEA recorded a 20-percent increase in the number of illegal recruitment cases last year as against the previous year’s record.