The Philippines has already sent more than 200 workers to the United Arab Emirates since April when a bilateral agreement on the protection of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) between the two countries has been signed, according to the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Abu Dhabi.
Labor Attaché Manuel Dimaano said most of the deployed OFWs fall under the household service workers (HSWs) category.
He said in a virtual forum that since the labor pact was signed, POLO has received more than 2,600 job orders (JO) from UAE employers.
“When implementation started last April 1, we already received a JO request. We have, as of July, we have 200 plus HSWs already here. We have received around 2,600 plus JO requests. Still under process,” Dimaano said.
“When we receive the POLO, we process the JO request. Once approved based on POEA standards, submit for POEA accreditation,” he said, explained the processes involved upon receiving JOs.
“With that number of JOs for HSWs, we expect even more to come here to work,” he added.
Dimaano said there are 19 job descriptions under the HSWs, among them are babysitters, nannies, housemaids, private tutors, drivers, watchmen, or security guards.
At the same time, he said reports of abuse cases in Abu Dhabi are minimal and majority of the complaints they received are health-related cases.
