Article 8Labor and Agrarian Laws and Social Legislation, p. 8

LABOR LAWS AND SOCIAL LEGISLATION SPECIAL LAWS AND IMPLEMENTING RULES AND REGULATIONS

Department of Tourism, the Department of Justice, the

Bureau

of

Immigration,

the

National

Bureau

of

Investigation, the Department of the Interior and Local

Government,

the

National

Telecommunications

Commission,

the

Commission

on

Information

and

Communications

Technology,

the

National Computer

Center, the National Statistical and Coordination Board,

the National Statistics Office and other government

agencies concerned with overseas employment shall be

established

to

implement

a

shared

government

information

system

for

migration.

The

interagency

committee shall initially make available to itself the

information contained in existing databases/files. The

second

phase

shall

involve

linkaging

of

computer

facilities in order to allow free-flow data exchanges and

sharing among concerned agencies.

The inter-agency committee shall be co-chaired by

the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of

Labor and Employment. The National Computer Center

shall provide the necessary technical assistance and shall

set the appropriate information and communications

technology

standards

to

facilitate

the

sharing

of

information among the member agencies.

The inter-agency committee shall meet regularly to

ensure the immediate and full implementation of this

section and shall explore the possibility of setting up a

central storage facility for the data on migration. The

progress of the implementation of this section shall be

included in the report to Congress of the Department of

Foreign

Affairs

and

the

Department

of

Labor

and

Employment under Section 33.

The inter-agency committee shall convene to identify

existing databases which shall be declassified and shared

among member agencies. These shared data bases shall

initially include, but not be limited to, the following

information:

(a) Masterlists of Filipino migrant workers/overseas

Filipinos classified according to occupation/job category,

civil status, by country/state of destination including visa

classification;

(b) Inventory of pending legal cases involving Filipino

migrant workers and other Filipino nationals, including

those serving prison terms;

(c) Masterlist of departing/arriving Filipinos;

(d)

Statistical

profile

on

Filipino

migrant

workers/overseas Filipinos/tourists;

(e) Blacklisted foreigners/undesirable aliens;

(f) Basic data on legal systems, immigration policies,

marriage laws and civil and criminal codes in receiving

countries

particularly

those

with

large

numbers

of

Filipinos;

(g) List of labor and other human rights instruments

where receiving countries are signatories;

(h) A tracking system of past and present gender

disaggregated cases involving male and female migrant

workers, including minors; and

(i)

Listing

of

overseas

posts

which

may

render

assistance to overseas Filipinos, in general, and migrant

workers, in particular. (As amended by RA No 10022,

[March 8, 2010])

SECTION

21.

Migrant

Workers

Loan Guarantee

Fund . — In order to further prevent unscrupulous illegal

recruiters from taking advantage of workers seeking

employment abroad, the OWWA, in coordination with

government

financial

institutions,

shall

institute

financing

schemes

that

will

expand

the

grant

of

pre-departure loan and family assistance loan. For this

purpose, a Migrant Workers Loan Guarantee Fund is

hereby

created

and

the

revolving

amount

of

One

hundred

million

pesos

(P100,000,000.00)

from

the

OWWA is set aside as a guarantee fund in favor of

participating government financial institutions.

SECTION 22. Rights and Enforcement Mechanism

Under

International

and

Regional

Human

Rights

Systems .

—

The

Department

of

Foreign

Affairs

is

mandated to undertake the necessary initiative such as

promotions,

acceptance

or

adherence

of

countries

receiving

Filipino

workers

to multilateral convention,

declaration or resolutions pertaining to the protection of

migrant

workers' rights. The Department of Foreign

Affairs is also mandated to make an assessment of rights

and avenues of redress under international and regional

human

rights

systems

that are available to Filipino

migrant workers who are victims of abuse and violation

and, as far as practicable and through the Legal Assistant

for Migrant Workers Affairs created under this Act, pursue

the same on behalf of the victim if it is legally impossible

to file individual complaints. If a complaints machinery is

available under international or regional systems, the

Department of Foreign Affairs shall fully apprise the

Filipino

migrant

workers

of

the

existence

and

effectiveness of such legal options.

IV. Government Agencies

SECTION 23. Role of Government Agencies . — The

following

government

agencies

shall

perform

the

following to promote the welfare and protect the rights of

migrant workers and, as far as applicable, all overseas

Filipinos:

(a) Department of Foreign Affairs — The Department,

through its home office or foreign posts, shall take priority

action or make representation with the foreign authority

concerned to protect the rights of migrant workers and

other overseas Filipinos and extend immediate assistance

including the repatriation of distressed or beleaguered

migrant workers and other overseas Filipinos;

(b) Department of Labor and Employment — The

Department of Labor and Employment shall see to it that

labor and social welfare laws in the foreign countries are

fairly

applied

to

migrant

workers

and

whenever

applicable, to other overseas Filipinos including the grant

of legal assistance and the referral to proper medical

centers or hospitals:

(b.1) Philippine Overseas Employment Administration

—

The

Administration shall regulate private sector

participation in the recruitment and overseas placement

of workers by setting up a licensing and registration

system.

It

shall

also

formulate

and

implement,

in

coordination with appropriate entities concerned, when

necessary, a system for promoting and monitoring the

overseas employment of Filipino workers taking into

consideration their welfare and the domestic manpower

requirements. It shall be responsible for the regulation

and management of overseas employment from the

pre-employment

stage,

securing

the

best

possible

employment terms and conditions for overseas Filipino

workers, and taking into consideration the needs of

vulnerable sectors and the peculiarities of sea-based and

land-based

workers.

In

appropriate

cases,

the

Administration shall allow the lifting of suspension of

erring recruitment/manning agencies upon the payment

of fine of Fifty thousand pesos (P50,000.00) for every

month of suspension.

In

addition

to

its

powers

and

functions,

the

Administration shall inform migrant workers not only of

their rights as workers but also of their rights as human

beings, instruct and guide the workers how to assert their

rights and provide the available mechanism to redress

violation of their rights. It shall also be responsible for the

implementation,

in

partnership

with

other

law-enforcement agencies, of an intensified program

against illegal recruitment activities. For this purpose, the

POEA

shall

provide

comprehensive

Pre-Employment

Orientation Seminars (PEOS) that will discuss topics such

as

prevention

of

illegal

recruitment

and

gender-sensitivity.

The

Administration

shall

not

engage

in

the

recruitment and placement of overseas workers except

on a government-to-government arrangement only.

In the recruitment and placement of workers to

service the requirements for trained and competent

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