Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Silvestre Bello III announced investigation into the alleged anomaly in the application of overseas employment certificate (OEC).
Bello said that they will implement new guidelines in the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to ensure that OECs will not be used for illegal recruitment activities.
It can be recalled that DOLE initially suspended for 15 working days the release of OECs, November 13- December 1, to prevent what it claims existing corruption in the agency as well as illegal recruitment that often leads to human trafficking.
“We are coming up with a major revamp in POEA to see to it that the issue of corruption is addressed,” said Sec Bello.
According to Bello, the suspension will allow the department to investigate persistent reports of illegal recruitment and extortion within the POEA.
Bello cited reports that 80 to 90 percent of direct hire are victims of illegal recruitment and that in the POEA, “there are people there who are earning as much as a quarter of a million for the issuance of OECs”.
He expressed that the problem needs to be “nipped in the bud,” even if the suspension will affect around 75,000 would-be OFWs.
