RP agencies scored for ‘illegal’ rider in Taiwan OFWs’ contract

Migrants’ rights groups have slammed two agencies of the Philippine government for allowing an “illegal" provision to be added to the employment contract of the 13 overseas Filipino workers (OFW) in Taiwan who have raised it as one of their labor issues.

The Asian Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM) scored the Manila Economic and Cultural Office in Taiwan (MECO) and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) for letting the 13 OFWs sign an addendum in their contract, which they said was declared illegal under Taiwanese law since 1999.

According to a CBCP News article, the APMM said the addendum required OFWs to pay 2,500 New Taiwan Dollars (about P3,400) for their food, accommodation and airfare to and from Taiwan.

APMM director Ramon Bultron said that by allowing the addendum to be part of the workers’ contract, both the MECO, the Philippines’ representative office in Taiwan, and the POEA are party to the crime of human trafficking.

The addendum, the article added, was signed by the workers’ company, AV Tech Corporation; two brokerage firms from Manila and from Taiwan; and the OFWs.

Through negotiations facilitated by the Taiwanese Bureau of Labor Affairs (BLA), the 13 OFWs were able to pressure their employer to give in to 10 of their 12 demands, including returning the employees’ passports and updating their pay slips, which were delayed by two to three months, according to Migrante-Taiwan which assisted the workers.

Addendum was “valid"

While the OFWs have asserted that the addendum is contradictory to labor standards and prejudicial to the interests of the migrant workers, the BLA, which currently hears the OFWs’ complaints, has said the addendum was legal.

In a separate interview, MECO Labor Affairs director Reydeluz Conferido also said the addendum was “valid".

“Contracts can be amended to improve their provisions and to make them suited to existing conditions," Conferido said.

He explained that both Philippine and Taiwanese labor laws provide that contracts may be amended, provided it is allowed by pertinent government agencies and that all signatories agree to the amendments.

Taiwanese labor laws, he noted, likewise allows renegotiation of contracts, including provisions on wages, especially if it is proven that the company was affected by an economic recession.

Group demands removal of MECO worker

As this developed, Migrante-Taiwan chairperson David Chang accused an employee of MECO of working against the interests of the workers and demanded that she be removed from her post.

In a separate statement, Chang said Gina Lin, a translator for the MECO’s labor office, insisted that she be one of the negotiators in the conciliation, and asked that Chang and another Migrante official to present their alien residence certificate (ARC) to the BLA for proper identification.

Chang said they refused Lin’s request, which they described as “irresponsible", as showing their ARC will expose their address to both the company and the brokerage agency and make them vulnerable to retaliation.

“As the negotiations pushed through, we found out that Lin was a former employee of the brokerage agency being accused of labor malpractice. It was she who earlier told the complainants that the MECO cannot help them on their case and that it takes two weeks for the National Immigration Agency to provide them shelter," Chang said in the statement.

The BLA later sided with Migrante and the workers, and barred Lin from participating in the negotiations.

According to Conferido, he sent Lin to be MECO’s official representative in the conciliatory talks.

Lin’s request, Conferido said, was valid as they had to determine Migrante’s authority to represent the workers and participate in the negotiations.

Conferido added they have yet to verify the reported decision of the BLA in favor of the workers.

GMANews.TV tried to contact POEA administrator Jennifer Manalili but her phone was unattended.

Meanwhile, the APMM asked the Philippine government to disallow the signing of an addendum to employment contracts, and to immediately investigate the incident and prosecute officials who allowed illegal amendments to contracts.

“It is bad enough that the Aquino administration has slashed the legal assistance budget for OFWs by half. Allowing labor exploitation to be put into paper is another," Bultron said. — JERRIE M. ABELLA, GMANews.TV, September 22, 2010