Govt suspends deployment of Filipino workers to SKorea

As tension remains high in the Korean Peninsula, the deployment of Filipino workers to South Korea has been put on hold, a government-run radio reported Saturday. DzRB reported Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban Conejos Jr. gave the order after discussing the situation with labor officials. The report also quoted deputy presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte as saying the decision stemmed from the positions of the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Labor and Employment, as well as the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).

Philippine-based South Koreans stage a rally in Taguig City on Friday to condemn the North Korean attack on their homeland. AP

Valte said President Benigno Aquino III had ordered the concerned agencies to "assess the situation and take corresponding action." She also cited updated government records showing there are around 46,000 Filipinos, including undocumented ones in South Korea. In an earlier interview on dwIZ radio, Conejos cited labor records indicating some 1,000 Filipino workers were due to be deployed to Korea up to December. Tension in Korea is expected to heighten this weekend with the holding of joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea.
Meanwhile, Valte maintained the government is ready to implement its contingency measures if the situation worsens. Still, she said the government is hoping tensions will ease up after last weeks' exchange of artillery fires between the two Koreas. “Hopefully ‘di natin kakailanganin (Hopefully we will not need to implement the contingency plans)," she said. Valte added President Aquino’s order to test-run the contingency plans does not mean the Philippines expects the situation to escalate. “He is taking the more prudent way in making sure and he wants to make sure na kung sakali handa tayo (that we are ready if the need arises)," she said. “We are hoping di ito mangyari. Mas mabuti on the side of government to be prepared for any eventuality (We are still hoping this will not happen but it will be best on the side of government if this will not happen)," she added. — LBG/HS, GMANews.TV