Recruiters warn of mass retrenchment

The 600-strong Federated Association of Manpower Export (FAME) warned yesterday of mass retrenchment if the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) would proceed to implement the new deployment regulations.

FAME chair Eduardo Mahiya said most of the recruitment agencies would have difficulty with the requirements and might be closed down for non-compliance.

"The enforcement of the new rules would means the closure of many agencies and retrenchment of our employees, not to mention a possible decline in the deployment of overseas workers," Mahiya noted.

Under the new POEA regulations, recruitment agencies are required to put up P2 million capitalization from the previous P1 million capitalization requirement.

The same policy also allows POEA to suspend license of any recruitment agency collecting placement fees more than the equivalent of the worker’s one-month salary.

POEA and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) are pushing and preparing for the implementation of the new rules in a bid to provide better protection to overseas Filipino workers.

But Mahiya said FAME is filing an urgent motion for a reconsideration of a Supreme Court ruling lifting the temporary restraining order against the rules’ implementation.

"This is the only legal remedy we have, to stop the implementation of the new rules," Mahiya said, as he urged all recruitment agencies to support the FAME’s move to prevent the enforcement of what he described as oppressive rules.

Mahiya stressed the importance of the participation of every recruitment agency in the legal fight, or they would be forced to accept the implementation of the new rules and their eventual closures. — Mayen Jaymalin