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Most people think that POEA's sole mandate is to ensure the safe processing and employment of Filipinos overseas. However, OFWs and even prospective migrant workers can also avail of another vital service from the POEA - that of Legal Assistance and Counseling.
It is a known fact that thousands of Filipinos have been victimized by fake and illegal recruiters, abused by employers and even extorted by government employees and fixers. This is why the POEA has a division whose sole purpose is to provide an avenue for OFWs to air their grievances and complaints.
The POEA's Legal Assistance Division is the one tasked to give Legal Aid and Counseling to the public. Legal assistance includes the following:
- LEGAL ADVICE to provide counseling services where repatriated workers are informed of their rights and possible options for redress of grievances.
- CONCILIATION to afford repatriated workers and their recruitment agencies a venue to discuss the possibility of amicable settlement.
- PREPARATION AND FILING OF COMPLAINTS for illegal recruitment, recruitment violation, and disciplinary action cases.
- COUNSELING DURING PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION AND HEARINGS of criminal cases for illegal recruitment.
Scroll down for the procedures in requesting assistance.
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What are the steps to avail of Legal Assistance Services?
- Proceed to Legal Assistance Division at 4th Floor POEA Central Office. Get a verification form from the Guard on Duty and Fill it up.
- Submit accomplished form at Window 3, Licensing Branch (LB), 4th Floor, for verification of status of agency/persons.
- Deployed workers must secure OFW Information Sheet from the Central Records Division at the 6th Floor.
- Submit duly verified form/OFW Information Sheet to the Legal Assistance Division (LAD) Legal Officer and wait for your name to be called.
- When your name is called, proceed to the table of the designated Legal Officer for initial interview, counseling or legal assistance in the preparation or filling-up of a complaint form.
- Submit duly accomplished complaint form to the LAD Legal Officer and swear under oath as to the truthfulness of the facts contained in the complaint.
- The Legal Officer will evaluate and endorse the complaint to the appropriate unit:
- Conciliation Unit
- Adjudication Office
- Public Prosecutor/Fiscal
- For conciliation, you may file the complaint at the Conciliation Unit, 2nd Floor
- For other cases, file your complaints at the Docket and Enforcement Division, 3rd Floor.
For those outside Manila, you may visit the POEA Regional Centers. See adress below.
For repatriated OFWs staying at the OWWA Hostel, a lawyer from the POEA Legal Assistance Division will visit the Hostel to provide legal assistance.
For those who cannot travel, there is now an ONLINE form in requesting Legal Assistance and Counseling. See details and procedures below:
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What are the steps to avail of Legal Assistance Services ONLINE?
- Go to http://legalassistance.poea.gov.ph/main/legalcounseling
- In the Legal Assistance Page, Fill up the required personal information.
- In filling-in the birthday information, follow the steps below:
- Click on the Calendar heading (September 2017). This will open the "months" selection
- Click on the current year (2017). This will open the "years" selection.
- Click on the left arrow to find the year of your birth.
- Click on your birth year.
- Choose your birth month.
- Choose your birth date. Proceed with the rest of the form.
- Once the personal information has been entered. Proceed with the Case Details.
- Choose the Nature of Inquiry or Assistance Needed. The choices are below:
- The first four choices, you have to choose a specific violation or case. They are as follows
- For Recruitment Violation (Not Deployed)
- For Recruitment Violation (Deployed)
- For Disciplinary Action Against Employer (DAE)
- For Disciplinary Action Against Worker (DAE) - This is for Employer making complaints versus an OFW
- Documents and/or images can be uploaded as evidence. They have to follow the jog, png or pdf formats.
- Details of the inquiry or complaint has to be entered as well.
- Once all information is entered, put a tick on the captcha and submit.
- You have to agree to the terms and conditions before your submission is received.
- You will receive a reference number. You will use this to check the status of your request.
Note that submitting a request for the online Legal Assistance and Counseling does not constitute a formal and valid complaint. A valid complaint requires a submission filed under oath at the POEA's Legal Assistance Division. Relatives can also submit a complaint in place of an OFW abroad.
For additional information, please visit or contact:
Philippine Overseas Employment Administration
Legal Assistance Division
4th Floor, BFO Building
EDSA corner Ortigas Avenue Mandaluyong City
Telephone Nos.: 09175540249/721-0619 09175501027/722-1189
Email: legal-asst@poea.gov.ph
Regional Center for Luzon
2nd Floor LZK-Zambrano Bldg,
Quezon Ave. City of San Fernando, La Union
(072) 242-5608 (Telefax)
Email: poea_rcl@yahoo.com.ph
Regional Center for Visayas
Ground Floor, DOLE-RO 7, Building A
General Maxilom Ave. and Gorordo Ave.
Cebu City
Telephone Nos.: (032) 4120040 to 42
Email: poea7_au@yahoo.com
Regional Center for Mindanao
2nd Floor Amya ll Building Quimpo Blvd. cor Tulip Drive,
Ecoland Davao City
(082) 297-7429 (Telefax)
Telephone Nos.: (082) 297-7428 (082) 297-7650
Email: poearcm@yahoo.com
sources: POEA, gov.ph,
DOLE Assist WELL (Welfare, Employment, Livelihood, Legal) to Help Repatriated OFWs and Those Who Lost Their Jobs
![The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has allowed foreign recruitment agencies (FRA) in the Middle East to hire more Filipino household service workers (HSW). The POEA cites the increasing demand for "kasambahays" abroad. The move is surprising since just over six months ago, the DOLE and POEA are saying the opposite, the plan to ban or reduce the number of HSWs to be sent to the Middle East. This is in light of the recent abuses committed against Filipino HSWs that went viral in social media sites. The POEA governing board (GB) issued its Resolution No. 3 (series of 2017) increasing the number of Philippine Recruitment Agencies (PRA) that a foreign agency (FRAs) in Arab countries could partner with, according to Labor Undersecretary and POEA OIC Bernard Olalia. This raises the partnership limit from two to five. Under POEA’s regulation, foreign agencies could hire a maximum of 100 Filipinos HSWs for each of their partner PRAs. The previous limit of Filipino HSW hires for each foreign agency was 200. This will be increased to 500 Household Service Workers. “We have to increase the accreditation so we could deploy more Filipino workers,” Olalia said. The new policy is a response to the growing demand for HSWs in the last two years. “If you compare 2015 with 2016, for sure the number of deployed [OFWs] increased from 1.8 million in 2015, it went to as high as 2.1-million OFWs,” Olalia said. “The biggest chunk of these deployed OFWs are HSWs followed by health workers and then semiskilled professionals,” he added. According to the latest available data from POEA’s website, deployment of Filipino HSWs grew by 7.51 percent to 194, 835 in 2015 from 181,224 in 2014. The 2016 deployment data is yet to become available in the same site. This increase comes even after the many reported and unreported incidents of physical, emotional, sexual and psychological abuse of household service workers, most of whom are women. Labor Secretary and POEA Governing Board Chairperson Silvestre Bello III, pointed out that only FRAs, which are compliant with POEA regulations would be granted with the new privilege. “We are okay with this as long as they protect our Filipino workers,” Bello said in a previous interview. This development is worrisome as there is really very little assurance that foreign nor local agencies are providing protection for Filipino HSWs. Almost every week, we see videos and posts of HSWs asking for help or assistance.](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH6ShWaSpNWFdfKwUwUloCBHPASDN6LQn6GKlDLIXc3jgURWGLmGuZe-lIUQlG3-7NUywW_KgSeZXGlCVEjahecnOHZIbh5tnaYTtteqwr4nB6354sRYqrBBpwmvGF7zKG6i47/s1600/cover.jpg)
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