POEA rules halted

Overseas manpower placement agencies scored a second victory in their battle against the labor department as a Quezon City judge issued a preliminary writ of injunction prohibiting the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) from implementing the 2002 rules and regulations governing overseas placement.

Judge Jose Paneda assailed the new rules as "illegal and offensive to the spirit and letter of Republic Act 8042 or the Migrant Workers Act."

The new order came after a 20-day temporary restraining order issued by the same judge against the rules, which had been deemed contrary to Section 29 and 30 of RA 8042, which provide for progressive and gradual deregulation of the manpower export industry.