Bacolod, POEA ink MOU to protect OFWs
Bacolod City -- Mayor Evelio R. Leonardia and Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz ink the Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of Bacolod City and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration respectively to protect the Overseas Filipino Workers from illegal recruiters.
This is the first LGU-POEA agreement and joint action against illegal recruitment in the whole Visayas.
The MOU states that illegal recruitment in the country has reached alarming proportions as to cause serious and general concern. It says that foremost among the reasons for the escalation of the problem is the lack or low level public awareness on the modus operandi of illegal recruiters and the effects of illegal recruitment.
While the POEA has launched an Anti-Illegal Recruitment (AIR) Information Campaign, due to its limited resources, it is not in a position to implement on its own a massive and extensive nationwide information campaign that will reach the grassroots level of society.
It is agreed in the MOU that the POEA shall furnish the city through the Public Employment Service Office, a list of licensed agencies and recruitment entities on a regular basis. It will also provide information materials on the campaign against illegal recruitment such as brochures, pamphlets, posters as well as copies of recent anti-illegal recruitment laws and regulations for distribution to constituents.
The POEA will make available, on request, speakers from among the POEA personnel for the Pre-employment Orientation Seminars (PEOS) and Anti-Illegal Recruitment Seminars to be conducted in the city.
An updated list of POEA-Government Placement Branch vacancies will regularly be given for dissemination to constituencies together with travel updates and advisories.
The POEA will provide a courtesy lane for Bacoleños as they apply at the POEA Manpower Registry Division provided the applicant is endorsed by the City PESO Office.
On the other hand, Bacolod will create a task force to fast track the implementation of the MOU, composed of the city mayor, as chairman, the POEA, PESO, in coordination with the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation.
The City will include in the community program an aggressive campaign against illegal recruitment by assisting in the distribution/reproduction and dissemination of Anti-illegal Recruitment (AIR) information materials among the constituents. The City will coordinate venue and participants in the Pre-employment Orientation Seminars and AIR/trafficking seminars.
The conduct of PEOS will be institutionalized in Bacolod City. Investigate any reported illegal recruitment activity and recommend to the POEA issuance of closure order against any licensed recruitment establishment entity established to be engaged in recruitment violations.
The city will provide a space within Bacolod City Hall, if necessary, for the documentary processing of OFWs during peak season. An AIR help desk will be established in the city hall and provide the POEA a monthly accomplishment of the initiatives taken for reference and monitoring purposes.
The POEA and the City Government shall meet from time to time to evaluate and assess their performance and identify problems, and resolve the same. (CMO/PIA)