Visiting Philippine Labour Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz (second right) at the inauguration of the new POLO building at West Bay yesterday. She was joined by (from left) ambassador Relacion, De Jesus, Calzado and Cleofas. PICTURE: Joey Aguilar
By Joey Aguilar
Visiting Philippine Labour Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz will meet Qatar’s Minister of Labour and Social Welfare HE Abdullah Saleh Mubarak al-Khulaifi today to discuss issues affecting overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
Some of the topics that may be brought up include employer’s compliance with the Philippine government’s reform package for household service workers (HSWs) and cases of passport-withholding, Baldoz told reporters in Doha yesterday.
The official explained that she had been receiving reports that there were also documented cases in which some OFWs ended up in trouble on their own and not because of their employers.
However, she stressed that HSWs in Qatar were not within the jurisdiction of the Labour Ministry. “I will try to find out whether there will be an opportunity to talk about it.”
The labour secretary reiterated that the reform package for HSWs was non-negotiable, vowing to impose necessary penalties against erring employers and recruitment agencies.
Gulf Times reported recently, quoting ambassador Crescente Relacion, that this issue would be thoroughly discussed at the Qatar-Philippines Joint Labour Committee meeting, hoping it would convene before he left the country in March 2015.
Baldoz was speaking at the inauguration of the new Philippine Overseas Labour Office (POLO) building yesterday. She was joined by Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) administrator Rebecca Calzado.
Ambassador Relacion, labour attache Leopoldo De Jesus, OWWA officer Lenny Cleofas, embassy officials and heads of attached Philippine government agencies also attended the event.
“This is a milestone in the history of our POLO office in Qatar,” said Baldoz. “This expresses our desire to really give the best service to our overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).”
POLO’s new home, near the embassy in the Jelaiah area, West Bay, started operating since January and serves as a “one-stop-shop” for thousands of OFWs in Qatar.
Baldoz is set to visit different POLOs in the GCC countries before heading to Kuwait for handing over the Abu Dhabi Dialogue chairmanship. Part of conference agenda is to deliberate two projects: the comprehensive labour education and mutual recognition of skills.
The labour secretary will hold a meeting with members of the Filipino community in Qatar today.
“Many of them are professionals and I am more interested to know how the licence in the Philippines issued by the Philippine Regulation Commission such as for engineers can be recognised here,” she pointed out.
As a preparation for the Asean (Association of South East Asian Nations) integration in 2015, the Department of Labour and Employment is reviewing all process and training regulations to conform with international standards as basis for mutual recognition agreement.
Baldoz wants to review the local requirements in Qatar to identify the deficiencies and then “compare it with what we will be having under the Asean integration 2015, then we can pursue bilateral negotiation with them”.
She will also meet officials and representatives of various recruitment and manpower agencies (with Philippine counterparts), to discuss different issues, concerns and challenges in the industry tomorrow (Sunday).
