Philippines, Croatia Highlight Commitment to Ethical Recruitment with Signing of Pilot Project for G2G Deployment of Filipino Hotel Workers 

Philippine Ambassador to Croatia Evangelina A. Bernas (second from left) and Director General Ante Ločar of the Croatian Employment Service (third from left) take a group photo with DMW Undersecretary Felicitas Bay (on screen) and Philippine and Croatian officials after the hybrid signing of the Implementing Guidelines for the Pilot Project on the Recruitment and Employment of Filipino Hotel Workers. 

VIENNA 25 July 2025 — The Philippines and Croatia signed the Implementing Guidelines for the Pilot Project on the Recruitment and Employment of Filipino Hotel Workers in Croatia through a hybrid signing ceremony in Manila and Zagreb on 17 July 2025. 

Department of Migrant Workers Undersecretary Felicitas Bay and Director General Ante Lončar of the Croatian Employment Service signed the pilot project guidelines. Philippine Ambassador to Croatia Evangelina A. Bernas witnessed the signing in Zagreb together with Labor Attache Delmer Cruz and First Secretary Theodore Andrei Bauzon. 

“The signing of the pilot project guidelines shows the growing bilateral relations between the Philippines and Croatia. It is a manifestation of the shared commitment to ethical recruitment of the two countries,” said Ambassador Bernas.

The pilot project will facilitate the deployment of Filipinos from the Philippines to work in hotels in Croatia using a government-to-government mechanism. The project institutionalizes the use of a standard employment contract and allows Filipino workers to access dispute settlement mechanisms in Croatia. 

The project is part of the implementation of the Philippines-Croatia Memorandum of Cooperation in the Field of Labor signed in 2024. END 

Philippine Ambassador to Croatia Evangelina A. Bernas (right) and Director General Ante Ločar of the Croatian Employment Service have an exchange after the hybrid signing of the Implementing Guidelines for the Pilot Project on the Recruitment and Employment of Filipino Hotel Workers 

DMW Undersecretary Felicitas Bay (on screen) and Director General Ante Ločar of the Croatian Employment Service show the signed Implementing Guidelines for the Pilot Project on the Recruitment and Employment of Filipino Hotel Workers 

For more information, visit https://www.viennape.dfa.gov.ph, https://www.philippine-embassy.at, https://www.facebook.com/PHinAustria, or https://www.instagram.com/phinaustria/.