Website www.poea.gov.ph | ||
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Formed May 1, 1982 (1982-05-01) Parent agency Department of Labor and Employment | ||
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) is an agency of the Government of the Philippines responsible for opening the benefits of the overseas employment program of the Philippines. It is the main government agency assigned to monitor and supervise recruitment agencies in the Philippines. The POEA's office is located at EDSA corner Ortigas Avenue, Mandaluyong City, Philippines.
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History
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration was established in 1982 through Executive Order No. 797. The goal of the agency's establishment was to promote and monitor the overseas employment of Filipino workers. The POEA was reorganized in 1987 through Executive Order No. 247 in order to respond to changing markets and economic conditions, and to strengthen components that would protect Filipino workers and the regulatory components of the overseas employment program.
The Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995 instituted State policies of overseas employment and established standards for protection and promotion of welfare for migrant workers and their families, and for overseas Filipinos in distress. The act specifies, "Migrant worker refers to a person who is to be engaged, is engaged or has been engaged in a remunerated activity in a state of which he or she is not a legal resident; to be used interchangeably with overseas Filipino worker.". Regarding deployment of migrant workers, the act mandates, "The State shall deploy overseas Filipino workers only in countries where the rights of Filipino migrant workers are protected. ...".
In 2010, Republic Act No. 10022 amended some of these provisions, including those quoted above. Among other changes, the paragraph defining the term Migrant worker was amended to read, "'Overseas Filipino worker' refers to a person who is to be engaged, is engaged or has been engaged in a remunerated activity in a state of which he or she is not a citizen or on board a vessel navigating the foreign seas other than a government ship used for military or non-commercial purposes or on an installation located offshore or on the high seas; to be used interchangeably with migrant worker.", and the introductory text regarding deployment was amended to read, "The State shall allow the deployment of overseas Filipino workers only in countries where the rights of Filipino migrant workers are protected. ...".
Deployment restrictions
On November 1, 2011, the POEA Governing Board (GB) published GB Resolution No.7, which specifies a list of 41 countries where OFWs cannot be deployed for non-compliance with the guarantees required under R.A. 10022. As of November 2011 the POEA lists 125 countries as being compliant with the guarantees required under R.A. 10022.
The process of obtaining a POEA exit clearances has been described in the Philippine press as a "nightmare". In a Philippine Daily Inquirer piece dated July 14, 2011, Rigoberto Tiglao, Philippine ambassador to Greece and Cyprus, questioned the POEA exit clearances, opining that they may be unconstitutional.