The chief of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), Carlos Cao Jr. said that the deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in 41 countries is currently banned. However, the official report identifying the 41 countries is yet to be released.

The POEA halts the deployment in 41 countries because of their failure to comply with the requirements that are stated in Republic Act 10022 or the Amended Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995.

According to Cao, the list of countries is still not available to the public because of the long holiday break. The list is supposedly in his office but he gave an assurance that it will be posted in the POEA official website within this week.

In a statement, the Labor Secretary and chairperson of the POEA governing board (GB), Rosalinda Baldoz, said that the ban is in line with the certifications issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

She said, “GB Resolution No.7 specifies a list of 41 countries where OFWs cannot be deployed for non-compliance with the guarantees required under R.A. 10022.”

Under Republic Act 10022, the DFA is required to certify host countries if they have labor laws, multilateral conventions, bilateral agreements with the Philippines, or other concrete measures to protect the rights of OFWs.

Meanwhile, the POEA would be in charge of implementing a deployment ban to countries which will not comply with the requirements. They also have the right to permit continuous deployment to compliant countries.

Baldoz explained that the ban on non-compliant countries is not permanent. The countries involved can negotiate to the Philippine government for the ban to be lifted.

Baldoz added that the ban does not cover international companies and contractors with operations in non-compliant countries unless it has an existing ban.

She further added that in another resolution, the POEA identified 49 countries which

 complied with government’s requirements for the protection of OFWs.

She said, “GB Resolution No. 6, specifies a list of 49 countries, where OFWs can be continually deployed.”

Last May, the POEA certified 76 compliant countries which are mostly from Europe and America. The recent list of compliant counties makes the total number of compliant countries to 125.

She said the two resolutions will take effect 15 days after publication in national newspapers.