PROTECTION FOR CAREGIVERS EYED

The Sun Internet Edition Hong Kong Mid-July 2008

By Daisy C.L. Mandap

Filipinos abroad who are applying to work as caregivers in Canada may soon be asked to submit their work contract for verification at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) at their host country. This was disclosed by Bernardino B. Julve, former labor attache to Hong Kong and now consular officer in charge of labor in Western Canada.

In an exclusive interview with The Sun in Vancouver, Julve said initial talks have been made with Canadian officials to bring into line agencies and individuals who have been taking advantage of a strong demand among Filipinos for work in Canada.

These include agencies which are currently recruiting Filipino domestic helpers in Hong Kong to work as caregivers in Canada, and are known to charge "placement fees" of around HK$30,000, exclusive of medical fees and air ticket.

The practice of hiring Filipino workers from HK has been largely unregulated because the recruiters are not licensed by local labor authorities, and are not required to submit to prior screening by POLO.

But this may change soon, if the Philippines gets Canada's nod to draw up uniform guidelines on hiring Filipino workers, wherever they might be. "The response that we have received so far has been positive," says Julve.

Not only will the work contracts be submitted to POLO for verification, but the Canadian employers would also be required to bear all the costs of importing a Filipino worker, including paying for the air ticket.

This is precisely what is provided for in separate memoranda of agreement recently signed by the Philippines with three western provinces in Canada-- British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba--with a fourth one with Alberta already in the pipeline.

"Canada itself insisted on requiring that no fees are charged to Filipino workers," says Julve. "Thus, makalusot man sila (agencies) sa Manila, hindi pa rin sila papasa sa Canadian embassy."
A case in point, according to him, was the recent rejection by the Canadian Embassy in Manila of a Filipino's application to work in Canada, after he admitted to paying a fee to the agency that recruited him.

"It may sound harsh to some, but that is the only way we can ensure that our agreement is followed strictly," says Julve.

On his part, he says he has been strict in checking the background of potential employers, to see if they really have the financial capability to bring in workers from the Philippines.
Under the agreements, potential employers are required to secure a labour market opinion (LMO) from an agency called Service Canada before they could hire workers from overseas. But even with this, Julve insists on looking into the employer's background. "I have ruffled a lot of feathers because of this," says Julve, "but this is the only way we could prevent cases where our workers were left stranded in Canada because the company or individual who hired them had become bankrupt."

Sadly, he says Filipino-Canadians appear to be the biggest perpetrators of scams to recruit Filipino workers into Canada, in exchange for large sums of money collected as placement fee.
With Western Canada opening up its labour market to overseas workers ahead of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, the Philippines is expecting tens of thousands of Filipinos to start flocking in. This was why Julve was tapped to man the second POLO to be set up in Canada, nearly 40 years after the first one was established in Toronto.

But Julve says that although he has been busy meeting with Canadian officials and members of the Filipino communities at his various posts, he continues to keep an eye on extending the protection provided for under the agreement to caregivers. "That will come in due time," he promised.