MANILA, 16 September 2007 — The Philippine Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is set to open new offices in four areas abroad where the number of Overseas Filipino Workers continues to grow.
Labor Secretary Arturo Brion said the four additional offices are to be put up in Australia and New Zealand, western Canada, Ireland, and central China.
“Canada is so large, and the demand (for OFWs) in western Canada is so big, (that) we need an additional labor attaché there,” Brion told a recent budget hearing by the House of Representatives Appropriation Committee.
China, he said, is also so vast that another office is needed to cover the central area together with the two existing posts in Hong Kong and Macau.
There are currently 34 Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (POLOs), four of which are located in Saudi Arabia.
These are the Riyadh office headed by Labor Attaché Resty dela Fuente, the Eastern Region Operations headed by Labor Attaché David Des Dicang, the Central Region office temporarily headed by Welfare Officer Alan Ignacio, and the Jeddah-based Western Region office under Labor Attaché Bulyok Nilong.
POLOs includes staff from the DOLE, whose function is to assist Filipino workers facing labor disputes, and a contingent from the Overseas Workers Welfare Offices (OWWA), whose function is to provide welfare for distressed workers.
The POLO Eastern Region Operations is manned by only 12 staff, which also do some consular work.
Brion said the presence of POLOs onsite ensures OFWs with protection, such as facilitating onsite services that include welfare, and providing complaints assistance against abusive employers, visitation, humanitarian help, among others.
But, he emphasized that “while the OFWs continue to be globally preferred and in continuous demand worldwide, the main policy of the country is not marketing, but the protection of Filipinos who have opted to pursue the work opportunities abroad.”
Apart from the Saudi posts, the other POLOs are located in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates; Manama in Bahrain, Brunei Darussalam; Brussels, Belgium; Geneva, Switzerland; Athens, Greece; Hong Kong; Tel Aviv, Israel; Amman, Jordan; Taipei, Kaohsiung and Taichung in Taiwan; Seoul, South Korea; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Kuwait City; Beirut, Lebanon; Tripoli, Libya; Macau, China; Madrid, Spain; Milan and Rome in Italy; Muscat, Oman; Doha, Qatar; Saipan in the Northern Marianas; Singapore; Tokyo, Japan; Toronto, Canada; and Washington, D.C.
It was not clear why Britain has no POLO, considering the big number of OFWs there. Brion stressed the need for a POLO in Sydney in view of the “long term growth in the emerging documented OFW markets of Australia and New Zealand.”
As for Ireland, he noted “a very strong presence” of Filipino workers, particularly medical personnel, have attained “a very strong presence.”
A press statement by Brion that was posted in the DOLE’s website said Ireland hosted a total of 5,439 documented OFWs last year, while the number of OFWs who went to Canada grew by 78.2 percent to 6,468 from 3,629.
In Australia, the number of OFWs rose to 2,318 in 2006, from 586 in 2005. Hong Kong hosted 96,929 OFWs last year.
“These are our emerging labor markets that will sustain deployment in the years to come,” Brion was quoted by the website as saying.
