MikeLigalig.com

Someday soon, overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) will be sent to China legally, although the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said this has yet to come true.

Labor and Employment Secretary Arturo Brion also said in a statement that this deployment has been put on hold as a result of the controversy brought by the national broadband network (NBN) deal.

"There is nothing to put on hold because there is no formal talk yet with China as far as the deployment of OFWs is concerned," Brion said.

But he added that "we are still in the process of looking at the possibility of tapping China as a new market for OFWs, especially for teachers and other skilled workers. China is one of the emerging labor markets that will sustain deployment in the years to come."

The first step in establishing labor arrangements is to determine if the country needs such a relationship. The DOLE did this through its internal conference with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, and labor attachés assigned to Asia.

Brion also said the country would have to put up a labor office in China and the DOLE just asked Congress for a budget for this.

"The next step is to notify the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) who will help us establish the linkage through diplomatic channels. We have not reached this stage so any talk of formal negotiation is premature," he further said.

Brion deplored the news reports linking the possible labor ties with the NBN deal. "Let’s hope we have not started on the wrong foot on our future relationship with China because of this news report," he said.

It was earlier reported that the deployment of OFWs to China had been placed on hold following the NBN controversy involving Chinese firm ZTE Corp.

An unnamed DOLE official said the government deliberately held off talks on the hiring of Filipinos in China after the scandal broke out.

"China is very willing to allow entry of Filipino workers but (we) decided to put off the negotiations (on hiring of OFWs to China) for the meantime because the controversy might adversely affect the deal," the official said.

The labor official said China has the potential of becoming a big market for Filipino teachers and other workers.

"There is big demand for Filipino teachers in China, but as of now the Chinese government is yet to open their market to us," the official said, adding the government is ready to open a new Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in China in anticipation of the opening of the market to Filipino workers.

The government is optimistic that Filipino workers will be deployed to China next year, the official added.

The official said talks on a government-to-government deployment of Filipino workers to China have failed to prosper.

"We are hopeful that we could proceed with the talks and probably this yields positive results," the official added.

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