Sec. Susan “Toots” Ople —Senate PRIB
MANILA, Philippines — After 27 years, the Philippines has lifted the guarantee bond imposed on Singaporean recruiters and employers of domestic workers since the public anger over the Flor Contemplacion case in 1995.
Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople announced the abolition of the guarantee and performance bond during her courtesy call on Manpower Minister Tan See Leng on Wednesday, during the state visit of President Marcos to Singapore.
“The removal of the requirements was in recognition of the deep and abiding friendship between the Republic of the Philippines and the Republic of Singapore and was a concrete outcome of the historic first state visit of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.,” the two agencies said in a joint press statement issued afterward.
“There was never an occasion for the Philippine overseas labor office in Singapore to garnish the bond in favor of an aggrieved worker in the past because complaints are promptly handled by the Ministry of Manpower which strictly monitors its accredited recruitment agencies,” Ople said in a separate statement.
Contemplacion became the face of overseas Filipino workers in distress when she was sentenced to death by a Singaporean court in January 1993 for the murder of her fellow Filipino domestic worker, Delia Maga and Maga’s 4-year-old ward in May 1991.
The public outcry intensified when Contemplacion was executed by hanging on March 17, 1995, despite then President Fidel Ramos’ plea for clemency, causing a rift in diplomatic relations.
As part of the fallout, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration levied a bond against Singaporean recruitment agencies and employers hiring Filipinos as domestic workers.
The bond was applied only to Singapore.
‘Christmas in September’
According to Ople, her counterpart Minister Tan described the lifting of the required bond as “Christmas in September” because they have been lobbying for the past 27 years to have it removed.
She said the “goodwill” from President Marcos’ state visit and the lifting of the 27-year-old guarantee bond “will lead to more and better job prospects for Filipinos who wish to work in Singapore.”
According to the Department of Migrant Workers, as of December last year, around 215,155 Filipinos live and work in Singapore, of which 180,605 are temporary migrants.