MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Labor and Employment will hold job fairs abroad to help provide new employment to displaced overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Qatar and other countries in the Middle East.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III announced that the DOLE is set to hold week-long job fairs in Qatar and Saudi Arabia where hundreds of OFWs have lost their jobs due to the prevailing diplomatic crisis in the region and low oil prices.
“This time it will be reverse, usually we initiate job fair here, but this time we will be sending a team to the Middle East to hold job fairs with about 18,000 local jobs to be offered for displaced skilled OFWs there,” Bello disclosed.
Bello said he will be meeting soon with former senator Manny Villar whose construction company is now in need of 18,000 workers.
Among the jobs available, Bello said, are for carpenters, plumbers, welders, masons and electricians.
Aside from the vacancies in Villar’s company, Bello said about 2,000 jobs are also available for displaced Filipino workers in the Department of Education.
“These are considered high paying positions. Like for teachers, they will receive at least P21,000,” Bello noted.
Though local companies offer lower salaries compared to jobs abroad, Bello expressed optimism that Filipinos would choose local jobs to be close to family.
“If the difference in salary is P5,000, I am sure our workers will choose local jobs. The only reason our workers are leaving the country before is because there are no jobs available here,” Bello pointed out.
Labor Undersecretary Jacinto Paras said the job fairs to be mounted in the Middle East is intended to encourage Filipino workers to just return home and work here.
“Our advice for our displaced OFWs is just to return home because there are jobs and altermative livelihood awaiting them,” Bello said.
Bello reported that many firms have closed down in Qatar and this led to displacements of over 600 OFWs, among them undocumented workers.
Based on DOLE data, Bello said, there are 250,000 Filipinos working in Qatar. Of the number, 75 percent are employed as household service workers (HSWs).
Bello also reported that he has recommended to President Duterte the creation of an anti-illegal recruitment task force to further strengthen the government’s campaign against the menace.
“The creation of a task force is just awaiting approval,” Bello disclosed.
He said the proposed anti-illegal recruitment task force will have a different composition from the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT), the body mandated by law to implement anti-trafficking measures.
The task force, Bello said, will be empowered to pursue those victimizing OFWs abroad.
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) reported a rise in cases of illegal recruitment among Filipinos abroad.
In an advisory, POEA chief Bernard Olalia said there have been increasing cases of illegal recruitment of OFWs to Russia based on reports coming from the Philippine embassy.
Most of those recruited were Filipino domestic helpers from Hong Kong, Singapore and Middle East.