Deployment to Saudi Arabia allowed by law, labor exec tells solon

MANILA – Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Secretary Abdullah Mama-o confirmed Friday that he issued the department order lifting the ban on the processing and verification of documents for the deployment of domestic workers to Saudi Arabia.

The move was opposed by Senator Franklin Drilon, who sided with the view of Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Silvestre Bello III that DMW is not yet fully formed.

In a radio interview, Mama-o said the law provides that DMW, in its initial operation, shall take over the staff, the assets, personnel, and some offices from DOLE and Department of Foreign Affairs.

Drilon said there is a transitory provision in Republic Act (RA) 11641 that says DMW will only function if it will have a budget allocation in the 2023 General Appropriations Act, Implementing Rules and Regulations, and a staffing pattern.

Mama-o countered that it is inappropriate to say that the DMW is not yet created as it has assumed over the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).

However, a confusion was further triggered by a press briefing last week by POEA chief Bernard Olalia who said an April 19 memorandum from Bello ordered a status quo until the DMW is fully constituted.

“I have commenced exercising fully the mandate and the power of authority of the Department of Migrant Workers that has been invested upon me by the law. All employees are now efficiently working under my control and leadership. We do not need an additional budget because we are taking over the budget of this agency,” Mama-o said.

He said the law provides that at any time, the DMW Secretary “shall terminate, suspend, or repose a total ban on the deployment of the migrant workers”.

“I sent a letter to the Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs. We’ve had consultations with the advisory board of the department and that includes Secretary Bello,” he added.

He also denied that he lifted the deployment ban because he owns a recruitment agency, adding he was never involved in any recruitment.

The ban was ordered in November last year due to unresolved issues of employer abuses, including non-payment of salary.

Mama-o said he might meet with Bello anytime this month.

The other DOLE-attached agencies to be merged under the DMW, created under RA 11641 that was signed by President Duterte on Dec. 30, 2021, are the Philippine Overseas Labor Office, International Labor Affairs Bureau, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, and National Maritime Polytechnic, a training and research agency.