Recruiters suspend deployment of Pinoy workers to Singapore

MANILA, Philippines - A group of local recruitment agencies has declared a self-imposed moratorium on the deployment of household service workers (HSWs) to Singapore starting Sept. 2.

According to Lucy Sermonia, president of the Association of Licensed Recruitment Agencies to Singapore (ALRAS), they will suspend the deployment to stop the malpractices of some rogue members and their Singapore counterparts.

This was agreed upon during a general membership meeting last Friday, with 120 of the group’s 130 members in attendance.

Sermonia said in a statement that they hope to “convince some members to abide with the HSW reform package of non-collection of placement fees.”

She added they also want to inform their Singapore counterparts that ALRAS members do not tolerate the collection of placement fees, as provided under HSW reform package of 2007.

“The malpractices of some members of collecting placement fees on HSWs has resulted in numerous cancellations or suspensions among the ranks of ALRAS, and in order to protect the industry the association agreed that a moratorium be implemented,” the statement said. The group will present their stand to Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz next week.

At least 14,500 HSWs were deployed to Singapore, the fifth most popular destination for Filipino workers, in 2012.

Last February, the Hong Kong Accredited Recruiters of the Philippines suspended the deployment of Filipino HSWs to the former British colony to protest the collection of fees from HSWs by its Hong Kong counterpart agencies, which violates the Philippine government’s rules and regulations.