MANILA, 18 March 2003 — Migrant related non-government organizations (NGOs) scoffed at the idea that the Standard Employment Contract of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) should prevail over the Unified Contract.
“Even now, the standard employment contract is not being used,” Noel Josue, Executive Director of Kaibigan ng OFW (Friends of Filipino Migrant Workers), told Arab News.
Josue said that the so-called standard employment contract stipulated that domestics to Saudi Arabia should receive at least $200 but they are being paid only $150.
“The Philippines has a standard employment contract which is processed by POEA and which is the basis of the terms and conditions of work of any Filipino worker who goes to Saudi Arabia or anywhere in the world. This is being enforced worldwide and is the basis for resolving disputes about wages, working conditions,” said Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas.
The Unified Contract, on the other hand, was drawn up between the Saudi National Recruitment Committee (Sanarcom) and the Overseas Placement Association of the Philippines (OPAP). All domestic helpers to Saudi Arabia would have to sign this unified contract or would be denied work visas.
This contract supposedly contains provisions detrimental to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and Filipino domestics in particular.
But Sto. Tomas said “our employment contract will always have primacy insofar as money claims and recruitment violations are concerned.”
“The government stands four-square behind the integrity of its standard employment contract,” Sto. Tomas insisted.
Sto. Tomas communicated to the embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that a unified contract signed by recruiters cannot prevail over the Philippine standard contract. This means that there can be no diminution of existing benefits, no imposition of additional fees and no impairment of the rights of workers as contained in the standard employment contract.
She would not comment on the fact, however, that several prospective employees for positions in Saudi Arabia have been refused visas at the Saudi Embassy because they would not use the Unified Contract.
Sto. Tomas told the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that a unified contract signed by recruiters cannot prevail over the Philippine standard contract.
This means that there can be no diminution of existing benefits, no imposition of additional fees and no impairment of the rights of workers as contained in the standard employment contract.
She added that she, or the labor department for that matter, cannot be made responsible for the recruiters inability to negotiate for better terms for themselves.
