Manila Warns OFWs Against Leaving Without Work Visas

MANILA, 25 February 2008 — The Department of Labor and Employment warned would-be OFWs yesterday not to leave the country for work abroad without work visas.

Labor Secretary Arturo Brion issued the warning after receiving a report from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Amman, Jordan, that more and more distressed Filipino workers are seeking refuge at the Philippine Embassy.

Some 180 out of 236 workers currently housed at the embassy’s Bahay Kalinga shelter for the distressed are undocumented workers who do not have work visas and other pertinent documents necessary for their repatriation, said the POLO report. Most of these undocumented workers are household service workers (HSWs), it added.

Brion also warned would-be OFWs not to proceed to Dubai using only tourist visas.

Brion advised job applicants to choose their placement agencies carefully and avoid those who cannot give them employment contracts.

Dubai, one of the top destinations of Filipino workers, is said to have a big number of OFWs working in Dubai with tourist visas only.

They are hopeful they would be issued work visas after working for a long period of time.

“I appeal once again to workers to check first with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) the existence of job orders in Dubai and other places abroad for any offer they may get from agencies and not to leave the country without proper documents,” Brion said.

“Undocumented workers are more vulnerable to abuse and exploitation since there are no contracts to bind their employers with responsibilities and corresponding liabilities that usually go with legitimate employment contracts,” he said.

Last month, Brion stopped the sending of household workers to Jordan because of the growing number of workers running away from their employers.

Last year, the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah warned Filipino workers against accepting job offers for Saudi Arabia on tourist visas. Then Consul General Pendosina Lomondot issued the warning after a number of workers for a company in Jeddah complained of abuses by their employer, including delayed payment of their salaries.