MANILA – Senator Raffy Tulfo on Wednesday urged the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) to be more aggressive in its campaign against abusive employers and recruitment agencies who neglected their obligation to domestic helpers (DH).
Tulfo suggested during the Senate hearing of the Committee on Migrant Workers which he chaired that the DMW must screen prospective employers and agencies amid reports of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) suffering from mental disorders and victimized by blacklisted recruitment agencies who still manage to ply their trades.
“Kailangan po siguro na mayroon profiling sa mga foreign employers at recruiters, hindi pwedeng basta na lang tayo magpapasa ng tao sa mga employer 'yun pala may sira na ang ulo, (o) galing sa psychiatric ward ang iba sa kanila” (We must profile foreign employers and recruiters, we could not just turn over our OFWs to employers , some of them may be suffering from mental disorders) “ Tulfo told DMW Secretary Susan Ople.
The senator cited a case of a DH who was sexually abused by her employers but managed to go home. However, the same employer also raped another DH sent by the same recruitment agency.
Ople pointed out another problem was the marketing strategy of recruitment agencies that employed agent recruiters to provinces and lured possible DH, but when a problem arises the agency was free from obligations since the victim's relatives only knew the recruiter agent.
She said they are now profiling all recruitment agencies and their staff as well to determine if they are fit for their work.
She also announced that the DMW and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) are now studying bilateral labor agreements between the Philippines and the countries of Portugal, Austria, Hungary, Croatia and Romania.
These five countries will serve as an alternative market against Middle East countries in case the Philippines decide to ban the deployment of OFWs there.
Ople said unlimited demands for DH, healthcare workers, and skilled workers are available in Portugal, Hungary, Croatia, and Romania.
She also announced the opening of an OFW hospital in Mabalacat, Pampanga. (PNA)
