Baldoz’s visit to Kingdom postponed to April 7

The visit of Philippine Labor Secretary Erlinda Dimapilis-Baldoz scheduled for this week has been tentatively postponed to April 7, according to a reliable source at the Philippine Overseas Labor Administration (POEA) in Manila.
“The postponement is due to the fact that we have not yet received the response of the Saudi Labor Ministry regarding our proposals in the standard labor contract,” the source told Arab News from Manila.
He said that once Baldoz arrives in the Kingdom, she would hold talks with her Saudi counterpart and that there should already be “a standard labor contract to be signed between the Philippines and Saudi Arabia.”
“This is the only reason why Secretary Baldos is not pushing through with the original date of her Saudi visit. Once she is there, the documents to be signed should be ready already,” he said.
He noted that the Philippines government had already given the green signal for local agencies to begin the recruitment of Filipino household service workers (HSWs) but there are issues that need to be addressed. HSWs incude housemaids, baby sitters, cooks, gardeners and drivers.
Whatever agreement to be reached, he added, will be incorporated in the bilateral agreement between the two countries.
Baldoz, who will visit the Kingdom at the invitation of Saudi Labor Minister Adel Fakeih, had earlier expressed her desire to visit a number of companies in Jeddah as well as in Riyadh.
This will be her fist visit to Saudi Arabia since she assumed as Philippine labor secretary in 2010.