ON OVERSEAS EMPLOYMENT:
RP assumes ‘worst-case scenario’
By Thea Alberto
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 16:46:00 10/14/2008
Filed Under: world financial crisis, Migration, Overseas Employment
MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines has "assumed the worst case scenario" as the global financial crunch sends shivers through the Filipinos working overseas, Labor Secretary Marianito Roque said Tuesday.
But Roque told a press conference in Malacañang there were no reports of mass layoffs affecting Filipinos abroad.
"We have not received any indications or any reports from our 37 labor officers abroad of any reduction for requirement for our Filipino overseas workers," said Roque.
There are about 4.13 million Filipinos working overseas.
He said the daily arrival of Filipinos in the Philippines is a “normal trend” as workers who had just finished their overseas contracts do return home.
"I don’t think it is safe to associate them with the financial crisis,” Roque said.
At the same time, Roque said that “ample protection mechanisms” were in place for Filipino expatriates in France, Norway and New Zealand.
In fact, these countries have expressed need for Filipino services in the areas of health care, information technology, hotel service and manual labor, he said.
The labor department has also signed employment agreements with four provinces in Canada, he said.
Roque, however, admitted that the government has "assumed the worst case scenario."
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Monday ordered the formulation of a contingency plan to cushion the impact of the global financial crisis on the overseas Filipino workers.
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