In line with President Rodrigo Duterte's promise to the Overseas Filipino workers (OFW) to abolish the overseas employment certificate (OEC) to make the lives of OFWs easier, eliminating the long queues just to secure a paper which will allow the OFWs to work abroad. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) came up with an idea of issuing the OFW ID or the iDOLE which will serve as the new OEC. DOLE and OWWA were set to proceed with the distribution of the said ID but due to some issues, DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello III canceled the distribution until further announcement.
Advertisement
Sponsored Links
Recently in an interview with Presidential Communications Operations Office Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson, Bello confirmed that iDOLE will be distributed tentatively on the latter part of August or the middle of September at no cost to the OFWs.
Initially, there are already about 3,000 OFWs who already received their iDOLE. Bello said that those who already got their IDs no longer need to secure OEC.
The distribution of the OFW IDs will be under the discretion of OWWA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac.
A party-list representative earlier hurled corruption accusations against Bello regarding the distribution of the OFW ID saying the secretary is collecting money from the supposed to be free iDOLE card.
Bello denied the allegations and stated that the very reason why he stopped the distribution of the said ID was that he discovered that there are people who want to make money out of it.
This is filed under the category of OWWA, President Rodrigo Duterte, Overseas Filipino workers, DOLE, OFW ID, iDOLE, OEC, Secretary Silvestre Bello III
Read More:
![DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello III directed the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and Bureau of Local Employment (BLE) through an administrative order, to undertake a supply-demand profiling and skills-job matching of Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. “We will review the conditions of our overseas workers in other countries, like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Jeddah, and other parts of the Middle East. Kailangan i-review naming ‘yan. In fact, we will be seeking a revisiting of the existing bilateral agreements with these countries. We want these agreements to provide maximum and optimum protection to our OFWs,” he said. Advertisement Sponsored Links The Philippine government is encouraging thousands of overseas foreign workers (OFWs), who lost their jobs or were displaced by events unfolding in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, to seek opportunities elsewhere. According to Silvestre Bello III, Philippine Labour Secretary, the government is working on convincing Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia and Qatar “to return home or be employed elsewhere overseas.” Earlier on Thursday, Bello said that the Philippines may be forced to restrict Filipinos from getting jobs, particularly employment as maids, in certain Middle East countries if abuses against them persist. Bello said the government is contemplating the possibility of a deployment ban of Filipino maids and other workers in Saudi Arabia if the kingdom can “not impose stronger protective mechanisms to ensure the safety and welfare of our workers there.” As for Qatar, Filipino workers there are also under pressure due to the diplomatic row between Doha and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member countries. “This is what the Labour Department intends to do [entice Filipinos in Qatar and Saudi Arabia to return to the Philippines] with the establishment of a Job Fair Task Force that will conduct a special job fair and skills profiling of OFWs [Overseas Filipino Workers] based in these two countries,” Bello said. In an administrative order, Bello directed the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and Bureau of Local Employment (BLE) to undertake a supply-demand profiling and skills-job matching of Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Saudi Arabia is a top destination for OFWs, employing more than a million Filipino skilled workers and professionals as well as house maids. Bello said that OFWs that require further upgrading of skills according to the requirements of participating employers will be referred to the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) for training prior to their deployment — whether locally or overseas. This report comes on the heels of a steady stream of repatriations of Filipino workers from Kuwait. Every week, hundreds of workers from that country arrive in the Philippines after awaiting months of working on their repatriation papers. The Philippines had also prohibited its workers, specifically those on “new contract”, from leaving for jobs in Kuwait following reports over the death of Joanna Demafelis, a Filipino housemaid whose remains were found stored inside a freezer at the home of her former employers. The suspects — a married couple — are both non-Kuwaiti Arab nationals. Read More: Beware Of Fake Online Registration System Which Collects $10 From OFWs— POEA Is It True, Duterte Might Expand Overseas Workers Deployment Ban To Countries With Many Cases of Abuse? Do You Agree With The Proposed Filipino Deployment Ban To Abusive Host Countries? ©2018 THOUGHTSKOTO www.jbsolis.com](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrxrrMuY3dYl8Zgrre0yAJG0i-8jVuACzJPpHA0pDBq7TPppy2m6tYacQIvdP0GRTchpb9ZJpkNT4a-m_hxFVAQDUzKdLlgyZ_t7lk4GqVX1wp5jL9_xdg2Xkh0p9vG0D35zqr0w/s1600/%2524%2524%2524%2524%2524%2524%2524%2524%2524%2524%2524%2524%2524%2524%2524.png "Philippine Government Urges OFWs To Avoid Working In Saudi And Qatar")
