POLO issues warning

THE Labour Department is investigating the hiring of Filipinos in Hong Kong for work in Turkey, Labor Attache Nenita Garcia said.

Garcia said that she asked the Labour Department to look into the matter after a Filipina domestic worker paid HK$19,000 for a job in Turkey but she was fired after only 45 days with her new employer.

“Ni-report lang namin and they said they will look into it—kung licensed ba talaga yung agency; ano ang kanilang ginagawa; at magkano ang kanilang placement fee,” Garcia said.

She said the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Hong Kong had not verified any job order for Turkey. Garcia said they had also raised the issue during a meeting with officials from the Turkish consulate.

“Aware na rin sila. Actually, merong agency sa Turkey na counterpart yung dito. Licensed din naman. Kaya nga lang, di natin alam yung proteksyon ng worker doon,” she said.

“Doon tayo hindi nakasisiguro. Parang ang trabaho doon ay janitorial services style. Tapos six months, six months,” she added.

With no verified job orders, Garcia discouraged Filipinos in Hong Kong from applying for work in Turkey.

“Hindi ko ini-encourage yan. Walang labor agreements at di naveverify yung job orders.

Baka sa dami ng nag-aapply, isa lang pala ang bakante, di ba? Pera lang (ang habol),” Garcia said.

“At saka nga, yung welfare and protection ng ating mga migrant workers ang dapat nating isipin. Hindi tayo sigurado doon kasi wala tayong standard contract (sa Turkey), she said.

“Pwede kang materminate after six months. Paano gagawin mo? Walang kang hospitalization benefit. Wala kang medical. Saan ka pupunta pag ganun?” she added.

Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) chief Hans Leo J. Cacdac earlier said that his office received a report from the Philippine Embassy in Turkey about a household worker who is now jobless in Ankara, after leaving her previous employer in Hong Kong.

In her written statement, the household worker said she was recruited by a recruitment agency in Hong Kong, whose owner promised her a better job in Turkey. She was charged HK$19,000 for the supposed new job.

She arrived in Turkey on May 2015 and was employed for a while but was terminated after 45 days. She is currently looking for a new employer who will be able to give her a work permit.

According to the household worker, the recruitment agency has an office in Ankara and started sending Filipino workers from Hong Kong to Turkey in November 2014.

Applicants are made to pay US$3,000 each as placement fee.

Cacdac said third-country recruitment is illegal because the recruiter and the employer have no license or authority from the POEA.

“And most probably, the conditions of employment are not what one had in mind; worse, the offered job is non-existent,” Cacdac said.