A large number of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are losing their jobs not because of the global financial crisis but due to the imposition of stringent procedures in Philippine airports that prevent them from flying to their work sites abroad. Recruitment industry leaders made the disclosure Sunday even as they scored concerned government agencies for imposing undue burden on departing OFWs. Emmanuel Geslani, the head of a recruitment agency, said every month an average of 500 OFWs are prevented from boarding their plane at Philippine airports by personnel from the Bureau of Immigration and the National Bureau of Investigation. “Our OFWs nowadays are facing difficulties in leaving the country for overseas employment. There are times that they lose the job opportunity abroad because the principal cancels the visa because of their delayed arrival,” Geslani said. Those barred from leaving the airport are OFWs, mostly women, whom authorities suspect are illegal workers even if they have proper documentation and verified job contracts for employment abroad. Geslani said some airport authorities tend to be overly suspicious of departing workers. He said these OFWs are barred from traveling even if their contracts have been thoroughly processed by their licensed agencies and even if their job orders are already accredited by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA). Prior to their departure, Filipino workers are required to secure necessary documents namely the Overseas Employment Certificate, passport, airline ticket and copy of the visa. These are all scrutinized by the Labor Assistance Center of the POEA. Departing workers have to present their travel documents to airline personnel before boarding passes are issued to them. The documents are verified by immigration agents upon their entry to the departure gates of the airports. Thelma Uanang, president of the Recruitment Agencies Accredited to Kuwait, said Philippine airport authorities should be careful in screening out illegal workers so as not to inflict undue harm on legitimate OFWs. “They should intensify their efforts and go after illegal recruitment syndicates who send OFWs daily to banned destinations like Lebanon or Iraq instead of documented OFWs who are properly processed with POEA,” she said. Recruitment agency owners complained that they are suffering serious financial losses since the flights of some OFWs are delayed. They said they have to shoulder anew the re-booking fee of US$50 for every departing worker each time such workers are prevented from taking their flight. They called on concerned agencies to correct the “misguided” practice at the airports, saying that this will unnecessarily lead to a decline in the number of OFWs who work abroad, eventually resulting to lower remittances and foreign exchange inflow for the Philippines at this time of global economic crisis.
