Silvestre Bello III (Facebook) Officials of the Department of Labor and Employment greeted and credited Secretary Silvestre “Bebot” Bello III for his contribution and impact among laborers. “Secretary Bello is the best that DOLE ever had,” said Undersecretary Renato Ebarle of the DOLE Employ
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III (File photo) MANILA - The Philippines through the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the United Kingdom (UK) have recently signed a memorandum of understanding on the recruitment of healthcare professionals to improve the recruitment mechanisms that would further strengthen the protection of the rights of Filipino healthcare workers. Bello said the agreement will further enhance the protection mechanisms for Filipino healthcare professionals in the areas of recruitment, policy development, and education and training, among others, while the British government already extends to Filipino workers in the UK the same employment rights and benefits as the British nationals. "The signing of this Memorandum of Understanding on the Recruitment of Filipino Healthcare Professionals between the Philippines and the United Kingdom comes at a very crucial time," Bello said in a statement on Wednesday. "We have concluded this undertaking a
Dubai, UAE
The new employment contract which was signed on March 2, 2021 by Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Usec. Claro Arellano of the Philippines, and Saif Ahmed Alsuwaidi, undersecretary of Human Resources and Emiratisation.
The trafficking of Filipina domestic helpers via Dubai has been going on for the past four decades, with the destination countries of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Jordan having been banned for deployment by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), Migration expert Manny Geslani said.
He estimates that over 120,000 Filipina domestic helpers reached those destinations from 2007 to 2020, with the majority of the women arriving in Lebanon after the Lebanon-Isareli war of 2006.
Bishop Ruperto Santos
(CBCP / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
“Let us hail this labor accord between our country and with UAE as it brings comfort and hope in this uncertain and unprecedented time of COVID-19,” Balanga Bishop Ruperto Santos, vice chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines Episcopal Commission on Migrants and Itinerant People, said in an interview Thursday, March 4.
He added that such proper coordination and mutual cooperation will “guarantee protection of our household service workers (HSWs) and promotion of their rights.”
With the expected resumption of deployment to the UAE, Santos said, Filipinos can once again show their honesty, being hardworking and helpful. He assured overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) of prayers.