KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent — This country is among 11 across the region to which the “deployment” of overseas Filipino workers has been halted.
Manila has blacklisted the Caribbean nations and 30 others because they do not meet the demands of laws governing the employment of Filipino migrant workers.
The Department of Labour in the Philippines, in an Oct. 28 resolution, cited that nation’s law in outlining three conditions, any one of which a nation must meet to receive Filipino workers.
Large remittances from five million overseas Filipino workers contribute significantly to the country’s economy.
The resolution said that a host country must have existing labour laws and social laws protecting the rights of workers, including migrant workers.
In the absence of this, it must have signed or ratified multilateral conventions, declarations or resolutions relating to the protection of workers, including migrant workers.
Filipino could also work in countries that have a bilateral agreement or arrangement on the protection of the rights of overseas Filipino workers.
In addition to SVG, Philippine embassies or missions have certified that Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Dominica, Haiti, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Turks and Caicos, and the U.S. Virgin Islands “are not compliant with the guarantees provided under the … law”.
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration has therefore stopped the deployment of the nation’s citizens to these countries “for non-compliance with the guarantees required under [Pilipino] law,” according to the resolution.