POEA suspends memo for Direct Hires

Much to the delight of many Pinoys, the POEA Memoramdum Circular No 4 Series of 2007 (aka Guidelines on the Direct Hiring of Filipino Workers) has been suspended for the meantime. Details on the infamous memo and the new memo which suspends the former are found in the POEA site.

The provisions in the memo enraged both overseas Pinoy workers and those who have plans of going abroad, chief among them are the following:

• Certificate of worker coverage under a performance bond equivalent to the worker's three month salary and secured at no cost to the worker.
• Certificate of worker coverage under a repatriation bond in the amount of US$5,000 or its peso equivalent secured at no cost to the worker.

As you can see, this apparently means additional cost required from the employers. Not sure if this is actually how it goes (heard from a friend briefly about how payment in bonds work), but I guess many people see it that way as well which, not surprisingly, caused alot of "noise" and confusion.

Anyway, going back: do the math; Pinoys are competing with other countries (such as India and China) for cheaper labor -- and this memo does not help any of the Pinoys -- kahit yung mga nangungurakot hindi matutulungan kung wala ng OFW!!! hehehe... But kidding aside, Filipino workersjust got a bit more expensive in the eyes of foreign employers, which makes us a little bit undesirable.

Not sure if this is true but I've heard rumors of a group of nurses whose work offers abroad have been withdrawn when this memo came out. Can somebody confirm this?

Aside from the above, there were also concerns regarding how these new requirements would affect the existing Filipino workers abroad. I remember going to the Philippine Embassy in Singapore several days before February 1 -- for the first time, as one of the employees there put it, the Philippine Embassy was overflowing with tons of people. Around a thousand people are crammed into the Philippine Embassy grounds which could only hold about a few hundred.

Well, the suspension of the memo was a good sign; it may have meant that the government is in fact listening to all the concerns in the petitions of the workers -- either that or they're worried with the amount of money they'll lose if there were lesser Filipinos abroad! Hehehe!

If I understand correctly, this is just a SUSPENSION of the memo; it is not yet totally abolished. So we might be faced again with this issue sometime later, after the POEA has "reviewed" it. If ever they do implement that again, let's hope that the provisions are clearly explained and is fair for all parties involved.


TIMELINE:

(Well, I always liked stories, so I might as well include how this saga went on.)Just some important dates relevant to the issue. Any other dates I've missed? Please PM me so I can update. :)

• December 18, 2008- POEA released the Memorandum Circular No. 04 Series of 2007, aka Guidelines on the Direct Hiring of Filipino Workers
• February 1, 2008- implementation of the MC No. 4, series of 2007 in Singapore (i.e., the documentary requirements for applying for an exit pass )
• February 14, 2008- POEA released Memorandum Circular No. 01 Series of 2008, aka Suspension of the Implementation of MC No 4 series of 2007 (Direct Hire Guidelines

Links:

Guidelines on the Direct Hiring of Filipino Workers / POEA MC 4, series 2007

Suspension of the Implementation of MC No 4 series of 2007 (Direct Hire Guidelines) / POEA MC 1, series 2008

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/antiOFWcircular/index.html