Deployment Ban to be Lifted

MANILA, Philippines — The deployment ban imposed by the Philippine government in certain countries may soon be lifted once bilateral agreements are forged with receiving countries where overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are temporarily disallowed to work.

This was disclosed by Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary Estaban Conejos Jr. in a briefing to Vice President Jejomar Binay.

There are currently five countries where a deployment ban is being imposed by the Philippine government: Iraq, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Lebanon and Jordan.

“In Iraq and Afghanistan, we are implementing the ban, the reason is because of the unstable security in the area,” Conejos said.

“In other areas, we’re concluding bilateral agreements with these countries so once we conclude these agreements, then we can consider the possibility of lifting the ban,” he disclosed.

Conejos cited the ongoing labor cooperation negotiations between the Philippines and Lebanon.

“The negotiation takes a long time. It’s now actually with the Labor Ministry in Lebanon so we’re waiting for their comments,” he said.

Vice President and Presidential Adviser on OFW Concerns Jejomar Binay meanwhile said he is eyeing sanctions on erring OFWs who continue to work in other counties without proper documentation as well as those who continue to work in countries where a deployment ban is currently being imposed.

“Buhay nila ang nakataya (Their lives are at stake) and we are concerned with that,” Binay said.

Filipino workers already in Iraq were allowed to continue working there provided that they would be repatriated to the Philippines once their contract expires. OFWs in Iraq are working in US military bases and facilities.

Conejos also said they are eyeing to send a security assessment team to Afghanistan, similar to what they have done in Iraq, to check on OFWs in the area.

“We have to find a way on how to secure Filipinos in Afghanistan,” Conejos said, adding that with the closing of US military bases and facilities in Iraq, there is a possibility that OFWs working in Iraq may transfer to Afghanistan.

Conejos said that while it is hard to protect documented Filipino workers abroad, it is “doubly hard” to protect undocumented workers, saying that out of the eight million OFWs abroad, about 10 percent are undocumented.

It will be recalled that a deployment ban on all workers was imposed by the Philippine government in 2004 in both Iraq and Afghanistan for security reasons. In 2007, it also imposed a deployment ban on all workers in Niger Delta, the Southern part of Nigeria, as well as Lebanon, also for security reasons. In 2008, a deployment ban was imposed on household service workers mulling to work in Jordan due to overcrowding in the Filipino Workers Resource Center (FWRC).

Madel Sabater, Manila Bulletin