POEA gets new old boss

POEA gets new old boss
28-Dec-11, 12:19 PM | Veronica Uy, InterAksyon.com

MANILA, Philippines — There’s a minor shakeup at the Department of Labor and Employment as Undersecretary for Labor Relations Hans Cacdac is moved back to head the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), where he was deputy administrator before his appointment as labor undersecretary.

Cacdac replaces Carlos Cao for still unclear reasons, although sources said the long lines for getting the overseas employment certificates — a subject of many complaints from leaving migrant Filipino workers as well as their recruiters and employers — may have been one of the reasons for his replacement. Cao’s lackluster performance at the height of the repatriation of OFWs during the Arab Spring may have also been a factor.

Cacdac took his oath a week ago, and will assume the post on Monday, Jan. 2, at least two independent sources confirmed to InterAksyon.com. The sources asked not to be identified as they are not authorized to speak in behalf of the appointing authority.

Cacdac, a labor lawyer before joining government service, successfully advocated for the adoption of the International Convention on Domestic Workers in Geneva, among other achievements.

The POEA, together with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), is involved in helping regulate overseas employment. The POEA issues licenses to recruitment agencies.

He will be replaced by Rebecca Chato, a career official who was recently director of the Bureau of Labor Relations

Meanwhile, the Federation of Free Workers lauded the appointment of Chato, saying her “vast experience in social dialogue and her ability to relate to both employers and workers in a just and fair manner will be of great contribution to the DOLE’s effort of promoting industrial peace.”

“Chato deserves this new promotion, She is not afraid of tackling contentious labor relations issues,” said lawyer Sonny Matula, FFW national president.

FFW sees her as a labor advocate who knows the details in the complaints by different Philippine trade union groups at the International Labor Organization against the Philippine government over extra-judicial killings of labor leaders in 2009 and violations to freedom of association and right to collective bargaining.

Matula said Chato is helping craft “more out-of-the-box solutions” in these areas.

New Philippine Ambassador to Nigeria/West Africa

AMITA O. LEGASPI, GMANews.TV
Article posted February 03, 2010 – 10:34 AM
Contrary to the fate suffered by his predecessor, it took only five minutes for newly appointed Civil Service Commission Chairman Francisco Duque III to get the nod of the bicameral Commission on Appointments on Wednesday morning.

Rep. Eduardo Zialcita noted that Duque had performed excellently as Health secretary. “It is heartwarming to note that he has been appointed [to] a very sensitive position and considering his track record, we are assured that civil service will be in the correct hands,” he added.

The fact that he is not a lawyer was not raised during the hearing, unlike what happened when the nomination of former CSC Chairman Ricardo Saludo was discussed last year. Duque is a doctor. [See: Saludo appointment as CSC chair nixed by CA]

The former health secretary promptly thanked the appointments committee on constitutional commissions and offices headed by Rep. Rodolfo Plaza.

“I would like to express my most profound gratitude and appreciation for your motion to submit for plenary my nomination. It will be a source of inspiration,” said Duque, who vowed to initiate “meaningful reforms” at the commission.

Duque will be presented to the plenary later in the day for the confirmation of his nomination.

The other appointees approved by the CA committees were:

- Evelyn San Buenaventura, commissioner of the Commission on Audit

- Bahnarim Guinomla, ambassador to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives as Chief of Mission, class 1

- Linglingay Lacanlale, ambassador to Thailand and permanent representative to the United Nations economic and social commission for Asia and the Pacific, as chief of mission, class 1

- Bayani Mangibin, ambassador to Iraq as chief of mission, class II

- Eva Betita, ambassador to Brazil, Colombia, Guyana and Suriname as chief of mission, class II

- Lourdes Yparraguirre, ambassador to Austria, Croatia, Slovenia and the Slovak Republic, as chief of mission, class II

- Nestor Padalhin, ambassador to Nigeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, the Central African Republic, Cote Equatorial Guinea, Gabonese Republic, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo, as chief of mission, class II

- Romeo Manalo, ambassador to Italy

- Cecilia Rebong, chief of mission, Class I, at post in New York

- Patricia Ann Paez, chief of mission, Class II — RSJ/NPA/LBG, GMANews.TV

Blacklist abusive employers, not runaway Pinoys in KSA – group

JOSEPH HOLANDES UBALDE, GMANews.TV
06/24/2009 | 08:45 PM

MANILA, Philippines – Instead of blacklisting runaway overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), abusive employers in Saudi Arabia should be barred under the new employment policy there, a migrants’ advocacy group said.

In a letter to Philippine officials in Saudi Arabia, Migrante’s Middle East chapter said the new policy puts the blame wrongly on foreign workers instead of employers who are subjecting these workers to various forms of maltreatment and labor malpractices.

“It should be erring and abusive employers that need to be blacklisted in hiring our workers, not the other way around,” said Migrante regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona.

Based on Migrante Saudi Arabia’s records, there were 1,793 cases of OFWs requesting repatriation as of December 31, 2008. Of the total, 566 ran away from their employers, while 1,019 were in various “distress” situations.

“We believe running away from abusive employers is the only way out for our distressed OFWs to save their lives. They should not be punished as they are the victims here,” Monterona added.

A GMANews.TV source in Saudi Arabia explained that under the new policy, all entering expatriates will be scanned for fingerprints for the kingdom’s database. Employers could no longer ask immigration officials to take a foreign employee’s name out of the blacklist. The SR2,000 fine for blacklist removal is also not applicable.

Deportees are required to take a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight out of the country, “”but the deportee will surely be delayed in his return because of the long process and difficulty in booking a (Saudia) flight,” said the source, who has assisted many workers in the Middle East in leaving abusive employers.

Welfare Officer Romualdo Exmundo of the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah said some runaway OFWs have even left the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration shelter at the consulate in Jeddah to join other expatriates who are staying under an overpass in Khandara District, in the hope that immigration police would arrest and deport them.

The other runaway workers are from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Indonesia.

But the GMANews.TV source said trooping to the Al Khandara bridge can only expedite the deportation of runaway maids, and not males or skilled workers.

Police records would have to be checked first for runaway men and skilled workers before they get deported. They also need their employer’s go-signal before they are allowed to leave the country, the source warned. – GMANews.TV

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/165758/Blacklist-abusive-employers-not-runaway-Pinoys-in-KSA–group