Stricter work permit for foreign workers out soon – TUCP

MANILA, Philippines — A stricter work permit for foreign workers in the Philippines will be out soon, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said Sunday.

The TUCP said the National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council (NTIPC) had reached the final stages of revising the Alien Employment Permit (AEP) to make it more stringent.

The NTIPC is chaired by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) with representatives from the labor and employers’ sectors.

According to TUCP, which is among the labor groups represented in the NTIPC, the move seeks to ensure that local jobs are protected and that foreign workers are not victimized by fly-by-night employers.

“We have to make sure local jobs are not taken away by any foreigners and at the same time see to it foreign workers are not victims of slave labor,” TUCP spokesman Alan Tanjusay said in a statement.

The labor group said the permit was reviewed in the light of the reported series of kidnappings, torture, and other forms of violence inflicted on Chinese POGO workers last year; the bribery of immigration officials; and the Philippine government’s decision to allow blue-collar Chinese workers to work in the construction industry, which took away jobs from Filipino workers.

TUCP also pointed out reports of Chinese nationals being caught violating health protocols, saying that these were a “serious cause for concern.”

Further, TUCP said it would bring up the issue of workers being allowed in the construction industry in a meeting by the Construction Industry Tripartite Council — with representatives from labor groups, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE),  the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and Filipino contractors.

The meeting is set to happen on Sept. 28.

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