DOLE allows deployment of 20,000 lowly paid maids

Some 20,000 Filipino domestic helpers are set to be sent abroad even if their wages don’t meet the new government-prescribed minimum of $400 a month.

Administrator Rosalinda Baldoz of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration said the government has allowed their deployment because their contracts were verified prior to the approval of the new policy.

"Those whose contracts were verified prior to the Dec. 16 implementation of the policy will be allowed to process their visas even without job orders, and they will be exempted from the required skills and language training," she said.

Baldoz said maids with visas approved on or before Jan. 16 will be allowed to process their documents until March 1 even without any job order and verified contract, but that they will be required to undergo skills and language training.

The deployment of those with pending contracts and approved visas was part of the "transition period" agreed upon by the labor department and the local recruitment agencies, she added.

The government stands firm on its policy to double the salary of Filipino domestic helpers abroad, Baldoz said.

Meanwhile, President Arroyo extended yesterday the life of the Presidential Middle East Preparedness Committee (PMEPC) security threats to Filipino workers in the region remain.

The order is contained in Executive Order 597, which Mrs. Arroyo issued because of continued tension in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Israel where there are a significant number of Filipinos.

"There is an urgent need for the PMEPC to continue to assess and monitor developments and update contingency measures to ensure the safety of Filipinos in the Middle East, notably in such countries abovementioned, and to uphold the current ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to Iraq," read the order.

Mrs. Arroyo also tasked the PMEPC to provide continuing assistance to the Department of Foreign Affairs as well as other government agencies concerned with the safety of overseas Filipino workers, and to draft plans for Filipinos in East Timor and the Korean Peninsula.

An initial funding of P5 million was allocated for the PMEPC. — Mayen Jaymalin, Paolo Romero