BY ANTHONY IAN CRUZ

MIGRANTE International will start street protests today to press for the scrapping of a controversial rule requiring foreign employers to pay $8,000 in fees to directly hire Filipino workers.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration issued Memorandum No. 4 issued last December 18 requiring foreign employers seeking to hire OFWs to pay a $5,000 repatriation bond to guarantee the repatriation of the worker or of his remains in the event of death, and a $3,000 performance bond to guarantee payment of salaries.

Protests have erupted elsewhere. The Philippine embassy in Singapore was compelled to "hold in abeyance" the implementation of the new rule. In an announcement posted on its website January 30, the embassy said all foreign employment matters "will be done as before the issuance" of Memorandum Order No. 4.

Migrante and other OFW groups said the new rule is a "grave threat" to the welfare of OFWs.

Migrante’s mass action will be held 10:30 a.m. at the Department of Labor and Employment in Intramuros, according to Migrante chair Connie Bragas Regalado. Migrante will announce also today the schedule of other protest actions.

Migrante’s Middle East chapter based in Saudi Arabia has started an online petition while two migrant institutions in Hong Kong have released a primer on Memorandum No. 4 in preparation for mass protests.

"We believe the circular translates to the deregulation of the Philippine labor export industry and relieves the government of its responsibility for protection and services to their nationals abroad," said John Monterona, Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator.

Dolores Balladares of the United Filipinos in Hong Kong expressed fear of massive job losses.

"For an employer of a domestic helper in Hong Kong, this translates to almost HK$50,000 (US$1=HK$ 7.7959). Practical and financial reasons alone will inhibit prospective employers from shelling out the amount," she said.

OFWs in Italy and Taiwan have also vowed to join Migrante-led protest actions against the POEA circular.

‘BEST CONDITIONS’

President Arroyo has ordered the Department of Foreign Affairs and labor attachés to secure better working conditions for OFWs in their host countries.

"I want our workers to have the best conditions possible, not only for their sake and the welfare of their families but because what is economically good for them will benefit the country as well," Arroyo said.

Arroyo cited a report of Ambassador Edgardo Espiritu that Filipino senior care workers in the United Kingdom have won significant concessions from the British Home Office that would facilitate the renewal of their work permits.

Under the new guidelines issued by the UK Border and Immigration Agency of the Home Office Department, the waiver of the skills criteria for work permit holders has been extended to those who have changed their employers due to the refusal of their previous employers to pay the required minimum hourly wage rate of 7.02 pounds.

Transfer applications had previously been treated as new applications subject to strict compliance with existing skills criteria, making renewal of work permits extremely difficult. Those whose employers refused to pay the required rates had no choice but to leave the UK upon completion of their contract, even if they were already senior care workers.

The new guidelines ensure the renewal of work permits for those who are only a year away from the minimum five-year eligibility requirement for permanent settlement in the United Kingdom.

Espiritu said without the changes, thousands of Filipino senior care workers would have ended up without work. – With Regina Bengco