Jinggoy, UAE Labor Minister agree to join hands in protecting OFWs

Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada and the labor minister of the United Arab Emirates have agreed to join hands in instituting measures that would help ensure the welfare and protection of overseas Filipino workers in Dubai and the rest of the UAE.

This developed as Estrada, chair of the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development and of the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on Labor and Employment, held a meeting with UAE Labor Minister Saqr Saeed Gobash during the senator's five-day official visit to Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

"My meeting with Minister Gobash was a big success in terms of bringing to his attention the concerns of our OFWs and his assurance that he would immediately attend to these," Estrada said.

In the meeting, Estrada discussed with Minister Gobash the three main problems concerning OFWs in the UAE, such as:

1. Protection and welfare of household service workers (HSWs) - At present, they are not under the jurisdiction of the UAE Ministry of Labor, but are directly under the Ministry of Interior-Department of Naturalization and Residency, thus, the lack of labor law guarantees;

2. Recruitment of workers through visit visas - People traveling from the Philippines on visit or tourist visas are not subjected to the regulations of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA). Upon their arrival in the UAE, the employment visas of these visitors are "processed" by some parties without the scrutiny of Philippine labor authorities, thus exposing the workers to abuse;

3. Substitution of contracts - Workers with employment contracts verified by the Philippine labor attachès are, upon their arrival in the UAE, forced by employers to sign new work contracts, but with lower salaries and benefits. Estrada said there should be closer cooperation between the UAE and the Philippine governments to ensure that only standard contracts are registered by the UAE labor authorities

Minister Gobash, a former UAE Ambassador to the United States of America, gave an assurance to Estrada that he would seriously look into these problems and address them accordingly.

The UAE official also agreed with the senator that there is an urgent need to "harmonize" the recruitment process between the UAE and the Philippines, noting that this step would benefit both countries. Minister Gobash said he will visit Manila on October 2008 as one step towards fulfilling his pledge to harmonize the recruitment process of Filipino workers to the UAE.

As a gesture of appreciation, Estrada handed to Minister Gobash a pin of the Philippine flag and a replica jeep made up of Mount Pinatubo ashes as tokens.

Estrada was accompanied in his meeting with Minister Gobash by Ambassador Libran Cabactulan of the Philippine Embassy, Consul General Benito Valeriano of the Philippine Consulate in Dubai, Labor Attachè Virginia Calvez of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Dubai and Labor Attachè Nasser Munder of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Abu Dhabi.

"I visited the UAE to personally see the condition of our OFWs in the Emirates, especially the distressed ones. Currently, there are 53 distressed OFWs who ran away from employers that maltreated them and they are now under the care of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO). They cannot yet come back home to the country due to lack of logistics and to problems on their travel documents," Estrada said.

During his visit to the Emirates, Estrada likewise led a free film showing of "Katas ng Saudi" in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, noting that aside from the entertainment it brings to the UAE-based OFWs, the film likewise inspires and challenges migrant workers to prepare for their eventual retirement and return to the Philippines as accomplished ex-OFWs.