Bello orders POEA to reassume full authority on overseas employment
By Roel Tibay
Published Aug 9, 2018 08:23 pm
By Leslie Ann Aquino
The authority to act on overseas employment-related matters is now back to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).
This after Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III ordered POEA, through Administrative Order No. 443 Series of 2018, to reassume full authority on matters concerning overseas employment.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III
(ROBINSON NIÑAL JR./Presidential Photo / MANILA BULLETIN) “The authority to act on overseas employment-related matters is given back to the administrator of POEA, serving as the authorized representative of the Labor Secretary,” said the AO. Based on the administrative order, applications relative to recruitment and placement licenses shall be filed with and processed by the POEA in accordance with existing rules and regulations. In a statement, the DOLE saId this includes the authority to issue and renew licenses and authorities to engage in the recruitment and placement of workers for overseas employment; grant exemptions from the age requirement for overseas workers; and issue appropriate orders, decisions and resolutions. “The administrative order is also issued to streamline administrative procedures, thus promote the welfare and protection of Filipino migrant workers,” said DOLE. It was back in June 2017 when Bello issued Administrative Order No. 241. AO 241 provided Bello the authority on matters related to the issuance and renewal of licenses; authorities to engage in the recruitment and placement of workers for overseas employment; the grant of exemptions from the ban on direct hiring; and the grant of exemptions from the age requirement for overseas workers. But Nicon F. Fameronag, Lilac Center president, questioned the move citing Republic Act 10022, “An Act Amending Republic Act No. 8042, Otherwise Known as the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act Of 1995, As Amended, Further Improving the Standard of Protection and Promotion of the Welfare of Migrant Workers, Their Families and Overseas Filipinos in Distress, and For Other Purposes,” approved on July 27, 2009. Under this law, he said, the authority to regulate private sector overseas recruitment and placement agencies, conferred by Congress, is with the POEA, not with the Secretary of Labor and Employment. “On this matter, the POEA does not represent or act for the DOLE Secretary. The POEA is the authority. The DOLE Secretary serves as chairman of the POEA Governing Board. As chairman he cannot act on his own without the concurrence of the board,” Fameronag, a former DOLE undersecretary, said in a statement. “If we are reading the law right, the authority of the DOLE Secretary is limited to presiding over the POEA Governing Board,” he added.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III(ROBINSON NIÑAL JR./Presidential Photo / MANILA BULLETIN) “The authority to act on overseas employment-related matters is given back to the administrator of POEA, serving as the authorized representative of the Labor Secretary,” said the AO. Based on the administrative order, applications relative to recruitment and placement licenses shall be filed with and processed by the POEA in accordance with existing rules and regulations. In a statement, the DOLE saId this includes the authority to issue and renew licenses and authorities to engage in the recruitment and placement of workers for overseas employment; grant exemptions from the age requirement for overseas workers; and issue appropriate orders, decisions and resolutions. “The administrative order is also issued to streamline administrative procedures, thus promote the welfare and protection of Filipino migrant workers,” said DOLE. It was back in June 2017 when Bello issued Administrative Order No. 241. AO 241 provided Bello the authority on matters related to the issuance and renewal of licenses; authorities to engage in the recruitment and placement of workers for overseas employment; the grant of exemptions from the ban on direct hiring; and the grant of exemptions from the age requirement for overseas workers. But Nicon F. Fameronag, Lilac Center president, questioned the move citing Republic Act 10022, “An Act Amending Republic Act No. 8042, Otherwise Known as the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act Of 1995, As Amended, Further Improving the Standard of Protection and Promotion of the Welfare of Migrant Workers, Their Families and Overseas Filipinos in Distress, and For Other Purposes,” approved on July 27, 2009. Under this law, he said, the authority to regulate private sector overseas recruitment and placement agencies, conferred by Congress, is with the POEA, not with the Secretary of Labor and Employment. “On this matter, the POEA does not represent or act for the DOLE Secretary. The POEA is the authority. The DOLE Secretary serves as chairman of the POEA Governing Board. As chairman he cannot act on his own without the concurrence of the board,” Fameronag, a former DOLE undersecretary, said in a statement. “If we are reading the law right, the authority of the DOLE Secretary is limited to presiding over the POEA Governing Board,” he added.