The recruitment agencies for migrant workers were able to get the commitment of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Jose Luis Montales to waive the online appointment needed for new applicants wanting to secure a passport in lieu of a special lane for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
To qualify for exemption, however, OFWs must meet the following condition:
A certification by the deploying agency that the OFW applicant has been hired by companies accredited by the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA).
That the OFW has been endorsed by either the Federation of Manpower Exporters Inc. [Fedamex] and the Coalition of Licensed Agencies for Domestic and Service Workers (CLADS).
That the passport applicant under the items above will be entertained in a special OFW Lane, which will be opened in all passport issuing offices all over the country.
The DFA has also committed to acquire additional machines and personnel, set up more regional offices and expand its Mobile Passporting Services.
Federation President Alfredo Palmiery and CLADS President Lucy Sermonia were able to get the commitment during a meeting with Montales on July 25.
During the meeting, both agencies pointed out that the two to three months delay in securing an appointment with the Consular Affairs Department of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has cut the chances of applicants to work abroad. The two pointed out that 60 to 90 days of delays have lessened the OFW chances to be hired since there are stiff competition from other countries with migrant workers.
Asking OFWs to get an appointment online has restricted the efforts of the recruitment industry to provide hundreds of OFW jobs within a given frame of time, recruitment consultant Manny Geslani said.
As per POEA figures, there are between 250,000 to 300,000 new applicants deployed by land-based agencies, plus another 100,000 from the sea-based sector that need new passports annually.
The problem of providing easy-to-get passport has persisted for the past three years, when a new set of officials removed the no-appointment privileges enjoyed by the recruitment industry in 2014.
Meanwhile, in Kabul, Afghanistan, one of the most dangerous places in the world, where daily occurrences of suicide bombings are considered normal, a DFA consular team flew into the city to renew or extend the passports of OFWs working in the Green Village in Kabul, Geslani said.
About 200 Filipinos are working at the “Green Zone” in Kabul for international institutions, like the World Bank, IMF, Red Cross, US-AID, European Union, ADB and other international offices.
The Samahang Pilipino Afghanistan under Chairman Bobby Tabaloc provided the logistical requirements of venue, accommodation, transportation and security for the two-man team from the Philippine Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan from August 10 to 12, 2017.