蜜桃工作室

The government has identified 41 countries that do not have enough safety and legal guarantees for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), prompting Manila to put them on a blacklist, according to Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz.

Baldoz said in a statement Tuesday that the governing board of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) had approved a resolution identifying the 41 countries where OFWs could not be deployed because the states did not comply with safety requirements under the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipino Act.

The POEA board also issued another resolution naming 49 countries where OFWs can be deployed. This is in addition to the 76 countries it has earlier identified as safe for Filipinos workers.

鈥淭he governing board has thoroughly discussed and considered the (Department of Foreign Affairs) certifications and, in accordance with the law, issued the resolutions,鈥� Baldoz said.

Baldoz said that countries declared noncompliant could initiate negotiations and conclude bilateral agreements to comply with the Migrant Workers Act鈥檚 requirements.

She also pointed out that Filipinos could still work for companies and contractors with international operations in noncompliant countries, 鈥渦nless there is an existing ban to that country.鈥�

POEA administrator Carlos Cao Jr. said his office would officially release the list of countries where OFWs could not go when government offices reopened today after the long All Saints鈥� Day break.

鈥淭here were 41 countries that were declared noncompliant but these are small countries and not major (labor) markets (for OFWs),鈥� Cao said.

He said that there were also 鈥渁round 30 countries鈥� that were categorized under 鈥渜ualified compliance.鈥�

鈥淭his means that we can deploy OFWs to some of their job markets but not to others, like those for household service workers,鈥� Cao said.

The POEA will publish the resolutions in two newspapers of general circulation. They will take effect 15 days after the publication.