SINIMULAN na ng gobyerno ang pagpapadala ng home-based caregivers sa Israel.
Nitong Martes, 48 na mga caregiver ang ipinadala sa unang batch sa Israel. Sinalubong sila ng mga opisyal ng Philippine Embassy at Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) sa Ben Gurion International Airport sa Tel Aviv.
Ayon kay Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) Administrator Bernard Olalia, ang grupo ay kabilang sa unang batch ng 377 OFWs na dapat nai-deploy noon pang nakaraang taon ngunit nagkaroon ng pagka-balam sa pag-proseso ng kanilang mga dokumento at flights dahil sa lockdown o heightened restrictions upang mapababa ang pagkalat ng COVID-19.
“We are now processing the documents of the qualified applicants for the 2nd round of recruitment, and this time, we are looking at more than 1,000 OFWs who will undergo the usual process of selection, hiring and matching with their respective employers in Israel,” dagdag pa ni Olalia.
Sinabi pa ng POEA chief, ang deployment ng OFWs sa Israel ay alinsunod sa Bilateral Labor Agreement (BLA) na pinirmahan ni Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Silvestre Bello III at Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Machluf noong 2018.
“We took the initiative to address the concern and request of Israel for caregivers. Since we cannot disregard the fact that there are illegal recruiters here and there, Secretary Bello continues to remind OFWs to avoid dealing with bogus recruiters and under-the-table transactions that require placement fees of about P500,000,” ayon kay Olalia.
“Prior to their deployment, OFWs are not required to be vaccinated, but upon their arrival in Israel, a COVID-19 test will be facilitated and they will have to undergo the mandatory institutional quarantine protocols“, dagdag na pahayag ni Olalia.
Bukod sa mga caregivers, household service workers, at nurses, ang Israeli government ay may mataas na demand para sa iba’t-ibang trabaho sa sektor ng teknolohiya, services, hospitality at manufacturing.
“To date, we have not reached the 6,500 ceiling on the annual overseas deployment of health care workers (HCWs). However, more countries are opening their doors for Filipino HCWs, so we are meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to recommend the increase of deployment cap, as urged by medical groups,” ayon sa POEA chief.
Ang pansamantalang deployment cap ay ipinapataw ng gobyerno ng Pilipinas upang matiyak na hindi mauubusan ng mga medical workers ang bansa.