A NEWLY signed labor agreement between the Philippines and Israel is expected to generate as many as 1,000 jobs for Filipinos in hotels across Israel, Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Elmer G. Cato said.
Cato revealed that the document, signed in Tel Aviv by Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III and Israel’s Tourism Minister Yariv Levin, would allow Filipino workers to work as cleaners in Israeli establishments.
The agreement comes three months after a landmark accord on Filipino caregivers was formalized between the two nations during the visit of President Rodrigo Duterte in Israel on September 2018.
The deployment cost to Israel has been lowered from as high as $12,000 to only about $2,000 upon a bilateral agreement recently inked by the two states.
The deployment process to Israel was also improved upon a government-to-government basis through the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.
Citing data from the Philippine Embassy, Cato said there are around 28,000 Filipinos currently working in Israel.