“Unilateral Approaches to Managing

Movement and Stay of Temporary

Workers: A Case Study of the
Philippines

By Undersecretary DANILO P. CRUZ

For the IOM-WB-WTO Trade and Migration Seminar
World Meteorological Organisation, Geneva, Switzerland
4-5 October 2004
 The decision to give in or not to the
demands of the abductors was a very
difficult decision for the government to
make. But we have upheld our
constitutional principle to serve and
protect our people, wherever they may
be .

“What happened to
Angelo dela Cruz?
We have about 8M OFWs
in more than 140
countries – these OFWs
are major contributors to
our economic
development and so we
need to serve and protect
them, wherever they may
be.
 Government Regulation on
Overseas Employment:
1. licensing system (Act
2486 of 1915)
2. Department Orders
• minimum contract
conditions
• dollar remittances for
salaries earned
abroad
• procedural rules and
regulations
Overseas employment
 has evolved as a function of
market growth over the past many
years
 from being a mere stop-gap
measure to alleviate local
unemployment and generate
foreign exchange to ease the
balance of payments into a global
reality that is to be managed with
utmost regard for the welfare and
protection of workers
 basically shaped by the
international demand for foreign
workers
 Managing
Overseas Migration
 Both sending and receiving
countries have significant mutual
interests related to migration
 Any joint management effort must
support the democratic value of
free movement and acknowledge
the increasing desire of overseas
migrants to participate in the
activities, while respecting the
right and obligation of states to
control their activities.
The increasing number of Filipinos
overseas and the growing competition
have pushed the Philippine
Government to intensify its efforts in
protecting them, for them to cope with
difficulties on site and upon their
return home.
Agencies that Cater to OFWs
Needs:
 Philippine Overseas
Employment Administration
(POEA)
 Overseas Workers Welfare
Administration (OWWA)
 The best employment
mechanism is to have a
good welfare program for
the OFWs and their families
-- from their pre-departure
up to their reintegration to
the Philippine labour
market or the economy as a
whole.
Worker applicants
 submit authenticated
certificates of employment
 actual trade/skills testing
 rigid medical examinations
 attend a Pre-Departure
Orientation Seminar
 HIRING PROCESS
 Hiring starts with the documentation of
employers through accredited documents
verified by labor officers and
authenticated by embassy officials
 Once accredited, they can now recruit
workers
 Manpower requests are also verified,
authenticated and sent to the Philippine
Overseas Employment Agency
 Model employment
contracts have been
developed based on
region/country and skills
taking into consideration:
 Filipino workers employment
 Host country’s peculiarities at
the job site
 Labor regulations and
prevailing practices of host
country
“Full disclosure” policy
 based on the
premise that in a
free and open
society, information
is the best weapon
to protect workers
and manage the
tide of migrant
workers.
 Foreign employer’s
accreditation is required
to ascertain the
existence of the
principal/project and its
manpower requirement.
 Labor Attaches and
welfare officers respond
to and monitor
problems, complaints
and queries of overseas
workers and their
families.
 Doctors were
deployed to assist
our overseas labor
offices in
responding to the
workers’ medical
and psycho-social
problems
 Network of resource
centers for improved
program and service delivery
relative to the protection and
promotion of workers welfare
and interests, and to assist
them prepare plans re type
of economic activity they can
pursue upon their eventual
return to the Philippines
 business counseling
 skills training programs
Continuous Efforts at Forging or
Upgrading Arrangements with Host
Countries  Enable the country to attend
effectively to workers’ complaints
and problems, making workers
less vulnerable during their stay
abroad.
 Commonly feature the promotion
of the protection and welfare of
OFWs, observance of terms and
conditions of the employment
contracts, as well as provisions
for further enhancement of
agreements.
 Marketing and welfare missions
to host countries
 Provision of mandatory life and
personal accident protection at
no additional cost to the workers
on a per contract basis
 OFW Flexi-Fund Program - as a
retirement protection scheme
 Intensified skills training activities
and continuously develop training
programs that correspond to the
demands of the labour market
 For seafarers, skills upgrading is
supported by the Coast Guard,
Maritime Industry Authority,
Commission of Higher Education
and Technical Education and Skills
Authority
 Overseas performing artists (OPAs)
are required to undergo training and
testing and secure Artist Record
Book (ARB) prior to their
deployment to help upgrade the
quality of entertainers going
overseas and to help minimize
trafficking of women.
 One-Stop Processing Center to
simplify the documentation process
 OFW E-Card is a permanent
identification card for all
OFWs
 proof of being a legal OFW and
a member of OWWA
 Overseas Employment
Certificate
 To avail travel tax exemptions
 Can act as an international ATM
card
Ensuring economic security of
OFWs
 Counseling to OFWs and family
 Skills training
 Information on savings and
investment options;
 Business development and
livelihood assistance such as
market linkages, product
development, technology
transfer, skills and
entrepreneurial trainings,
consultancy, credit and micro-
finance;
Family Circles
 the springboard for their
empowerment, as there is
always strength in numbers;
 the bridge to facilitate faster
repatriation of OFWs when the
need arises;
 the vehicle in providing
psycho-social services to the
Balik-Manggagawa for a
smoother reunion with their
respective families.
 Interactive databases
contains the list of job
vacancies, recruitment
agencies, etc
 POEA SMS Service
 inquiry about
recruitment agencies,
job vacancies and
other information on
POEA and overseas
employment
Reintegration Programs for
Returning OFWs
 to maximize the gains
of overseas
employment by
motivating and
counselling them to
plan for productive
options
 ‘Kabayanihan’ or
the ‘Kabayan-
Bayani-Bayanihan’
is an integration of
the welfare and
social program
packages OFWs
and their families
 Mechanism with a built-in
safety net minimizes, if not
prevents, possible huge costs
that may be incurred by OFWs
and the government
 Integrated system and
the regulatory systems
in place ensure them
that these workers are
coming home after the
duration of their
contracts.
Approaches to the labour
migration management:
 Enhancing the
competitiveness
of labour
 Empowering of
labour
 Ensuring their
welfare and
protection
Enhancing competitiveness
 Explore and develop more and better
markets for overseas employment
 Ensure that the OFWs are qualitatively at
par with, if not superior to, their foreign
counterparts
Empowering OFWs

 OFWs as
agents of
development
 Enabling tool
to help act on
their own
choice
Overseas employment
 empowered workers financially;
 provided workers with enough
earning potential that predisposes
the government to encourage
them to invest strategically in
small and medium scale
enterprises;
 empowered workers
professionally to enable them to
acquire information and skills that
the government is keen on
harnessing under its reintegration
program.
DOLE