10 February 2015 - The Philippines and Qatar successfully convened the 2nd Joint Committee Meeting on Labor Matters from February 04 to 05 in Doha,Qatar with Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) chief Hans Leo J. Cacdac leading the Philippine delegation and Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Hussein bin Youssef Al-Mulla heading the Qatari delegation.
Administrator Cacdac acknowledged the many job opportunities for Filipinos in Qatar created mostly from the upcoming hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. He cited the health, construction, services, and production sectors as offering the most opportunities for prospective overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). He further added that the Philippines received 78,426 job orders from Qatar.
In response, Deputy Minister Al-Mulla informed the Philippine delegation that there are 94,289 visas reserved for Filipino workers that Qatar is hoping to be deployed soon. These are mostly in the health sector and in the ongoing rail project.
Deputy Minister Al-Mulla also informed the Philippine side that Article 33 of the Qatari Labor Law prohibits the payment of recruitment fees. Hence, POEA Administrator Cacdac promised to issue a circular warning prospective OFWs to Qatar from paying such fees to recruiters.
Qatar likewise announced that it is nearing completion of the drafting of a law to protect household service workers (HSWs). Currently, HSWs are outside the jurisdiction of Qatari labor law.
Both sides agreed to exchange blacklists of erring recruitment agencies and white lists of good performing agencies.
The JCM also saw the two delegations discussing other issues, such as recruitment policies, dispute settlement, and bilateral pursuits under the Abu Dhabi Dialogue.
Prior to the actual JCM, the Philippine delegation visited the Labor Inspection and Labor Relations Departments where they got to see firsthand Qatar’s efforts to protect the welfare and rights of OFWs in the country. The delegation was also toured around a labor camp being constructed at the Doha Industrial Area, where future Migrant Workers will be provided with comfortable and quality accommodations.
The 1st Joint Committee Meeting (JCM) was held in Bohol in 2009. The 3rd JCM will be hosted by Manila sometime later this year, to be preceded by a technical working group meeting. END