The Philippines Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III and Romanian Embassy Chargè d’Affaires Mihail Sion have signed a memorandum of understanding last week for allowing overseas Filipino workers in the European nation, according to the Department of Labor and Employment.
Sion stated that the bilateral labor agreement would ease the rampant unemployment of OFWs due to the COVID-19 pandemic — which forced over half a million people to return home as of April 2021.
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Describing Romania as good for Filipinos seeking work as hospital caregivers and skilled workers, he said that migrants from other Asian countries like Vietnam, Nepal, and India come here for work.
While there are around 1,500 OFWs in Romania including mostly in the health, safety, and transportation sectors, these figures accounted for around 20% of Romania’s total foreign workforce, the DOLE stated.
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Romania is the seventh European nation that the Philippines has signed a labor agreement with. Others countries include the United Kingdom, Germany, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Italy, and Spain. (AW)
