Overseas deployment to Qatar “normal”: labor official

June 19, 2017

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said overseas Filipino workers (OFW) deployment to Qatar is at a “normal process” after it lifted a partial ban last week sending workers by manpower firms, a senior official said Monday. Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III released an advisory dated June 14 all workers including new hired, agency hired and workers who took a vacation in the country can get an exit clearance from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration. Assistant Labor Secretary for Employment Amuerfina Reyes said “we don’t see a decrease of demand for us.” The Philippines has been “banking “on a good relationship with Middle East countries which includes Qatar. The two countries maintain a good working relationship, Reyes said A diplomatic row between Qatar and other Middle Eastern nations, led by Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, ensued when the three nations cut diplomatic ties   with Doha on June 5 for allegedly supporting terrorism. The Philippines called on its approximately 200,000 overseas Filipino workers to remain calm. Bello said the deployment ban was lifted after appraisal by its Philippine Overseas Labor Office and the Department of Foreign Affairs that situation has normalized. However, contingency measures remain in place. Reyes said Filipinos are equipped with competency, resiliency, flexibility, and good attitude which are qualities foreign employers like. “Because we are not only industrious we also care when we are working”, she said. Former Philippine Ambassador to Palau, Arman Hernando said the situation in Middle East is “not a labor issue” but it is a “political issue”. “This time the problem is a political problem not a labor problem between Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other allies of Saudi Arabia. Qatar by itself is the most liberal country in Middle East among the countries there and we have 230,000 Filipinos in Qatar”, Hernando said. (Alanna Ambi/DMS)