Deployment of Filipino DH to HK up by 20% in Jan - DOLE

New contracts for household service workers bound for Hong Kong posted a 20 percent increase on the first month of implementation of the controversial guidelines that recruiters and militant domestic helpers wanted scrapped, Labor chief Arturo Brion reported Thursday. Quoting a report from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Hong Kong, Brion said deployment of new hires to the former Crown Colony increased from 2,246 in December 2006 to 2,700 in January 2007. The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) guidelines in the deployment of domestic helpers took effect December 16, 2006. "This is an indication that the policy reforms being instituted to provide the Filipino HSWs a cover of protection from potential abuse and exploitation abroad are not adversely affecting the preference of Hong Kong employers for overseas Filipino workers," Brion said. The guidelines doubled the minimum monthly salary for Filipino domestic helpers, also called household service workers, to $400, set the minimum age requirement at 23, and required departing domestic helpers to undergo assessment and skills training, language proficiency test and secure certificates from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) as a prequalification to deployment. Recruiters under the Federated Association of Manpower Exporters (FAME) and domestic helpers allied with militant groups like Migrante have staged a series of protest rallies at the POEA and DOLE offices in Manila as well as in Hong Kong, demanding the scrapping of the deployment guidelines. The guidelines were fully implemented beginning March 1. Its application was deferred for some 20,000 domestic helpers whose contracts were already being processed at the time the guidelines went in effect. The demonstrators feared its implementation would result in dramatic reduction of deployment, saying foreign employers could not afford the $400 monthly pay rate. On a year-on-year basis, the January 2007 figure was even higher by 22% as compared to 2,198 contracts for newly-hired Filipino HSWs in Hong Kong recorded in the same period in 2006, Brion said to stress that the fears were baseless. Brion said the January 2007 deployment data may even signal sustained demand for Filipino domestic helpers in Hong Kong this year, stressing that the increased monthly minimum salary for Filipino HSWs does not seem to discourage Hong Kong employers from getting HSWs from the Philippines. Brion said the continued preference for Filipino HSWs in Hong Kong proves that the institution of the policy reforms is not only morally correct but also an illustration of the wisdom in sending only those HSWs with adequate skills and knowledge in household work. "Despite the salary increase, many Hong Kong employers still preferred OFWs for their skills, dependability, and ability to communicate and adjust effectively in foreign environments," Brion said. At the same time, the DOLE chief allayed fears of OFWs engaged in domestic work especially those in Hong Kong who worried that they may be prevented from working abroad unless they submit themselves first in lengthy skills training and language competency tests. He clarified that HSWs who already gained experience in household work especially abroad need not undergo training but only skills assessment to certify their competence. He said that only those who fail the assessment three times are required to train. The HSWs may, however, undertake language training if they would be deployed to a country different from their previous employment, Brion said adding that the HSWs in need of language training can go to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration which conducts the training free of charge. - GMANews.TV