THE Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) will temporarily stop sending newly hired overseas Filipino workers (OFW) in Myanmar amid the ongoing political turmoil in the Southeast Asian country.
Last week, the POEA Governing Board (GB) issued Resolution 2 imposing the temporary deployment ban after the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) hoisted a crisis Alert Level 2 (Restriction Phase) in Myanmar.
“The POEA Governing Board, in a meeting duly convened resolves as it hereby resolved, to impose a temporary suspension on the processing and deployment of newly-hired OFWs bound for Myanmar,” Resolution 2 read.
However, the temporary deployment will not apply to returning OFWs with existing employment contracts.
Tension remains high in Myanmar after the military took over its government last February.
In his homily last Sunday, Manila Apostolic Administrator Bishop Broderick S. Pabillo appealed for prayers for the safety of Christians in Myanmar since some churches there were hit by military bombardment.
No less than Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) President and Archbishop of Davao Romulo G. Valles sought for the faithful last week to pray for the peace resolution of the political tension in Myanmar.
In a related development, POEA issued its Advisory 73, series of 2021, reminding the public that the deployment for OFWs in Lebanon, which was issued way back in February last year, remain in effect.
It issued the reminder amid reports some unscrupulous individuals were illegally recruiting aspiring OFWs for deployment in Lebanon.
“The Philippine Embassy in Lebanon has also expressed concern over the rising number of undocumented workers becoming victims of trafficking, human rights abuses, and labor contract violations,” POEA Administrator Bernard P. Olalia said.
“The public is warned that until the suspension is lifted, recruitment and placement of Filipinos for deployment to Lebanon is prohibited,” he added.
POEA is already coordinating with authorities to investigate the said illegal recruitment incidents.