By Phoebe Salvador
(Eagle News) — Recruitment agencies and migrants’ organizations are pushing for the creation of an overseas counterpart of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) under the proposed Department of Overseas Filipino Workers.
During an interview on Aprub’s Aksyon OFW, Raquel Bracero, president of Philippine Association of Service Exporters Inc. (PASEI) discussed the proposed establishment of the Overseas Labor Relations Commission (OLRC).
“The OLRC will be part of the Department of OFW focusing solely on the problems of overseas workers. The NLRC can then focus on local problems regarding money trades,” Bracero said in Filipino.
Bracero also mentioned several provisions in connection with the proposed OLRC, such as the creation of country-specific employment certificates and training of overseas labor arbiters.
In addition, Bracero said cases involving undocumented or irregular workers will be given much attention in the OLRC.
“So far, the NLRC does not entertain such cases due to what they call lack of employee-employer relationship. As for the OLRC, we included provisions for victims of illegal recruiters,” she said.
https://youtu.be/8tBHb84JhKI
Former ACTS-OFW Partylist Rep. John Bertiz showed support for the said proposal.
“It will be better if we have the OLRC, which will focus on the study of international law or local law of host countries,” Bertiz said in Filipino.
Meanwhile, Bertiz hoped that through the DOFW the private sector and the government can join forces in upholding ethical recruitment and cleansing the industry.
“One of our recommendations will be to review and evaluate the issued licenses — if these (recruitment agencies) are noncompliant and are receiving numerous complaints, then they should not be given another chance to operate,” Bertiz said.
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For more information on the story, please watch
Aksyon OFW is the newest segment of Aprub Live that airs via Facebook Live and Eagle News Live every Saturday, 3-4 p.m. Hosted by former ACTS-OFW Partylist Rep. John Bertiz, it tackles the latest issues concerning OFWs and their families.
