The Labor Secretary, Rosalinda Baldoz is reminding all Filipinos who want to work abroad to follow the proper and legal procedures of overseas employment so they can avoid being a victim of illegal recruitment and human traffickers.

The warning is applicable to all Filipino workers who are thinking of working abroad, but in this particular advisory, Baldoz is specifically referring to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) bound to Syria. The warning was issued because the Labor Department received a report from the Labor Attache in Damascus, Mr. Angel Borja that there are undocumented OFWs in Syria.

Baldoz said, “It has been reported to me by our labor attaché in Damascus, Mr. Angel Borja, that there are still Filipinos who manage to come to work in Syria but who enter that country under dubious circumstances, meaning, they go there as illegally-recruited migrants. This is most dangerous.”

Baldoz also said that she expect many people to be familiar with the modus operandi of illegal recruiters and human traffickers by now because of the news and reports of their activities She is referring to the expose of human traffickers in Mississippi, USA that were able to victimize 23 Filipinos.

The Labor secretary said, “Alas, we continue to receive reports of workers illegally recruited,” she said, adding that “illegal recruiters continue to prey on unsuspecting workers by dishing out promises of fantastic salaries for non-existent jobs”.

Baldoz also informed that the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Damascus which opened in August 2009 is strictly keeping an eye on Filipinos who arrives in Syria coming from the following entry points: Dubai, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, and Bahrain.

The POLO is also monitoring Filipino workers who did not go through the usual procedures of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), the membership and pre-departure orientation procedures of the Overseas Workers Administration (OWWA), and the post-arrival orientation seminar of the POLO. The orientation seminar of POLO for OFWs who just arrived in their host country is a new reform program which is part of the 22-point labor and employment agenda of President Benigno S. Aquino III.

Baldoz said that Syria-bound OFWs should make sure that they have legal working documents. She said, “The government of Syria, while it issues work permits and resident visas valid for three years and has laws and regulations covering the activities of licensed Syrian recruitment agencies, has very strict laws that put illegal workers in a disadvantage.”

She also added that though we have no bilateral agreement with Syria, there are 20 licensed overseas recruitment agencies accredited by POLO to hire recruit OFWs for the oil and gas industry of Syria.

Baldoz warned, “OFWs should pass through these agencies accredited by the POLO and no other.”