ABU DHABI: Under the Philippine government’s pilot scheme, a group of Filipino workers returning to the same employer and job site and listed on the electronic data base of the Philippine overseas employment administration (POEA) will no longer be required to secure an overseas employment certificate, or OEC, starting from September 15, reported The National.
“For years, we’ve been calling for the scrapping of the OEC so we consider this as a minor victory,” Nhel Morona, country coordinator of Migrante Middle East, an international immigrant rights group, reportedly said. “While we welcome this initial step, we hope they’ll abolish the requirement altogether.”
Workers who changed employers or converted their tourist visa to employment visa are still required to obtain an OEC, the report said.
They need to make an appointment with any POEA office, processing center, or at Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (POLOs), it added.
Previously, all workers returning from holiday had to obtain an employment certificate and present it at passport control before they left the country. It proves that a Filipino has been legally hired and exempts them from the travel tax and a terminal fee at the Philippines’ international airports, said the news portal.
The pilot scheme follows Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s directive to streamline the processes for Filipino workers abroad, Hans Cacdac, head of the Poea, was quoted as saying.
“It’s in response to the clamor of overseas Filipino workers, especially those returning to the same employer and job site,” he reportedly said. “If you are covered by the exemption, all you need is to log in to your registered account on bmonline.ph and update your profile.”
The worker’s updated profile will then be forwarded to the Bureau of Immigration (BI) in the Philippines. This clears a passenger for travel without paying a processing fee.
“We are implementing this on an experimental basis until October 15 just to see how it goes,” Cacdac reportedly said. “So after 30 days, we will report to the POEA board and seek recommendations whether to continue with it, revert to the old system, or further improve the system.”
Migrante Middle East will continue to push for the scrapping of the requirement after the experimental period, Morona was quoted as saying by The National.
