Philippine Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III is scheduled to be in Abu Dhabi next week to sign an agreement with the UAE government addressing issues about overseas Filipino workers, Ambassador Constancio R. Vingno, Jr. told The Filipino Times.
“Yun ang plano,” Vingno said when asked to confirm whether the Labor Secretary will be arriving on Sept. 11. “He will be here thereabouts.”
Vingno said Bello will be signing the Labor Cooperation Agreement with his counterpart official in the UAE.
“The agreement is to promote the well-being of our Filipino workers. Wala nang designation ngayon kung household service worker sila. Pare-pareho na silang under the Ministry of Labour,” said Vingno.
He added, “May recruitment agency, kailangang may counterpart sa Pilipinas, kapag may problema, may babalikan sa Pilipinas na recruitment agency. Yan ang essence ng agreement.”
As of press time, Sources said a dialogue between Bello and representatives of the Filipino community was being finalized.
Vingno and Consul General Paul Raymund Cortes were recently in Manila on official function among which included finalization of the agreement, well-placed sources said.
Vingno had told The Filipino Times in an earlier interview that the agreement, was a result of a “series of developments… interactions; not necessarily formal negotiations but courtesy visits and consultations with the embassy.”
