The Philippines embassy has canceled its requirment that Saudis seeking Philippines housemaids must submit a bank statement. The move comes after a series of meetings between the embassy and Ministry of Labor in which they discussed the details of the new contract designed to lift the embargo on the recruitment of Philippine workers. Under the new contracts, the sponsor's address and phone numbers must be provided and the housemaid should be allowed to talk to her family directly. However, salary rates were not set as the Ministry of Labor says this is dependent on supply and demand. The Philippines embassy Chargé d'affaires Ezzul Deen Tajo said: “We're still waiting for the Ministry of Labor's reply in the next two weeks. However, we have agreed on almost all discussed issues and we hope that this problem ends soon and the door to recruit Philippines housemaids is open again.” In other matters, the Ministry of Labor has given temporary approval to set up two recruitment companies: International Recruitment Company and Al-Mawarid Recruitment Company. However, the companies are not permitted to practice recruitment activities because they have to obtain a permanent license first. The Deputy Minister of Labor Dr. Mufarraj Al-Haqbani said: “The Ministry issued regulations to organize intermediary work to recruit highly-qualified workers and professionals with experience.” These aim to regulate housemaid recruitment and the licensing of recruitment companies to create competition among the companies. __
