Home   >   PHL GOVERNMENT   >   DFA   >   Bid to Simplify Filipino Labour Rules

Bid to Simplify Filipino Labour Rules

By on August 7, 2012

Delmer Cruz queued for more than two hours last Thursday to get an exit clearance needed for a holiday back home.

But unlike the other 300 Filipinos in the queue, he was not a regular member of the public.

Mr Cruz, 47, is the new labour attache at the Philippine overseas labour office in Dubai. He was testing out the service with Venus Abad, the assistant labour attache, to see what needed to change.

“I saw restless faces and heard high-pitched voices,” he said. “In the first queue, a lot of people had so many questions. There was some confusion and restlessness among the crowd.”

Part of the answer, he believes, is improved information – a simple leaflet with answers to the most common questions.

Filipinos need an overseas employment certificate (OEC) to prove they have been hired legally before they can leave their country.

“It could have taken a much longer time,” Mr Cruz said. “But on that day, we had one more staff assigned to the OEC processing.”

With only one member of staff processing applications, the wait can be up to four hours.

Continue reading at The National