Petition vs POEA Memorandum Circular No. 04

SIGNATURES FOR SCRAPPING

POEA Memorandum Circular No. 04 and the Ban on Direct Hiring

(A Signature Campaign Sperheaded by Migrante in the Middle East Region for the Immediate Scrapping of POEA Memo. Circular No.04)

Dear Fellow Overseas Filipino Workers in the Middle East :

Warm Greetings from Migrante Middle East !

Migrante Middle East is sperheading this Signature Campaign to register our very opposition to Arroyo Government’s policy thru POEA Memorandum Circular No. 04 and the banning of Direct Hiring as directed by the Department of Labor & Employment (DoLE).

Fellow OFWs in the Middle East Region, we are attaching herewith a Critique Paper prepared by Mission for Migrant Workers (MFMW) and Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM) based in Hong Kong.

Like our Migrante, these two non-government organizations are in the forefront of protecting & advancing the rights & welfare of overseas Filipinos, workers & immigrants alike. In studying POEA Memo. Circular No.04 Series of 2007 and analyzing its impacts to Filipino migrant workers, we maintain the same views relative to its negative impact to OFWs & aspiring overseas workers:

1. MC-04 will result to loss of jobs and employment opportunities.
   
2. MC-04 puts Filipino workers under the control of recruitment agencies and makes them vulnerable to overcharging and other malpractices of unscrupulous recruitment agencies.
   
3. MC-04 belies the fact that recruitment agencies are not there to protect OFWs but are in fact accessories to, and even promoter of, many cases of abuse.
   
4. MC-04 negates the gains of Filipino migrants in previous struggles for their rights and wellbeing.
   
5. MC-04 translates to the deregulation of the Philippine labor export industry and relieves the government of its responsibility for protection and services to their nationals abroad.

In view of the above, Migrante is calling all Filipino migrant workers, individuals and/or their respective organisations in the entire Middle East to unite & strenthen our sector whose right to look for a job abroad due to the failure of the government to create decent jobs locally & our right to equal employment opportunity is threathened by this particular anti-OFW policy by the Arroyo Government.

OUR UNITY. OUR CALL:

1. Immediately scrap POEA MC-04.
   
2. Improve onsite services for and protection of Filipino migrant workers. Scrap the OWWA Omnibus Policies.
   
3. Institutionalize effective mechanisms that will curb, if not not finally stamp out, overcharging and other malpratices of recruitment agencies.
   
4. Scrap the POEA Guidelines on the Deployment of Filipino Household Service Workers.
   
5. Stop the deregulation of labor export. Institute policies and mechanisms for effective and concrete protection of Filipino migrant workers.

For the protection of Filipino Migrant Workers Right & promotion of their Welfare,

Initial Signatures :

John Leonard Monterona, Regional Coordinator ~ MIGRANTE Middle East

Richard Bautista, Chairperson ~ Kapatiran sa Gitnang Silangan (KGS), Riyadh (KSA)

Rod De Leon, Spokesperson ~ Migrante-Riyadh (KSA)
Andrew M. Ociones, Chairperson ~ Migrante-KSA,

Jon De Jesus, Coordinator ~ Migrante-Qatar,

Cyrine Pinpin, Chairperson ~ Migrante-UAE

Gil Lebria, Chairperson ~ Migrante-Kuwait

Note: You can send email to: leonardcasero@yahoo.com to include your name and/or organisations in the Petition to be submitted to the House of Representatives. You may also reprint this statement and collect signatures among your friends then send it back to the above email address. Thanks...