By Pearl Gumapos
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Sec. Silvestre Bello III on Thursday (Oct. 14) said he, as the new chairman of the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) government group, will be working on improving the employee contracts of migrant workers.
Bello said that part of his duties as the new chair is to preside over the ILO meetings and will be responsible for setting the agenda and process of the meetings in the ILO government sector.
“Sa larangan ng overseas worker, we will also [work on] improving the employment contracts of all migrant workers in order to provide them sufficient security and safety as well as proper treatment,” Bello said during the Laging Handa public briefing.
“I-agenda item ko iyong discussion on improving employment contracts of all overseas workers para sa ganoon, iyong kontrata nila ay matitiyak natin na iyong mga provisions will protect their interests and see to it that they have the rightful claim to their salaries and benefits,” he added.
The improvement of migrant workers’ contracts will be the first agenda during the first meeting.
Meanwhile, Bello said DOLE will be looking into and studying the possibility of a deployment ban to Saudi Arabia.
This after employers of thousands of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) refused to give their salaries.
It was during 2016 that around 11,000 OFWs were not paid their salaries for one to two years.
“President Duterte authorized me to bring all of them home. Ni-repatriate natin ang ating mga kababayan. But before doing that, we authorized a lawyer to pursue the claims of our OFWs. That was 2016. It is now 2021. Mayroon ng desisyon. Hindi pa rin binabayaran. Nandiyan iyong pera. The claim of our OFWs amounts to P4.6 billion. That is due to more than 9,000 overseas workers,” Bello said.
“Kaya sabi ko, kung hindi nila babayaran iyan, there is no use sending our overseas workers doon. It’s high time we have to show the people of Saudi na our people deserve justice,” he added. -rir
