Veto of work permits provision in budget disappoints Villanueva

Sen. Joel Villanueva (Photo from his Facebook page)

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Joel Villanueva on Tuesday expressed disappointment over President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to veto the special provision in the 2019 national budget that seeks to return to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) the sole authority to issue work permits to foreign workers.

According to Villanueva, Senate committee hearings shows that the Bureau of Immigration (BI), which handles issuance of work permits to foreign workers with DOLE, has been corrupt in its practice.

“We agree that solving the problem of the influx of illegal foreign workers is a shared responsibility among relevant national government agencies such as the [DOLE] and the [BI],” Villanueva said in a statement. “However, the lack of monitoring and the irresponsible issuance of work permits the past months by the Bureau only indicates incompetence and worse, corruption.”

He explained that DOLE should be in charge of checking the background of foreign workers entering the country and determining if the job they would be employed in could not be done by a Filipino worker.

The BI, meanwhile, should only issue visas after the DOLE has approved the entry of the foreign worker, the senator said.

“Clearly, the influx of illegal foreign workers in sectors that should exclusively for Filipinos shows the Bureau’s incompetence and complete disregard for the welfare of Filipino workers,” Villanueva said.

Despite the veto of the provision, Villanueva vowed to solve the increase in the number of illegal workers in the country.

“While the veto is a temporary setback on our efforts to put an end to the influx of illegal foreign workers here, our resolve to reform the process remains unshaken,” Villanueva said. “We shall continue to push for an overhaul in the system by filing appropriate bills, such as amendments to the BI’s charter.”

On April 11, Dominique Tutay, chief of the DOLE’s Bureau of Local Employment, said that the new guidelines for issuing work permits to foreign workers were expected to be issued on or before May 1.

Tutay said the issuance of special work permits (SWPs) by the immigration bureau would be limited to foreigners who belong to any of 14 categories and who would only do short-term work in the country.

READ: New policy on foreign workers out by May 1

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