Byline: RAYMUND F. ANTONIO

The government met its target on overseas employment even before the year ends as more than one million Filipinos have been deployed to 180 countries over the last 11 months, the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) headed by Secretary Arturo Brion reported

Acting Labor Secretary Danilo Cruz said a total of 1,011,148 land and sea-based overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have been deployed from January to November, posting a 12.4 percent growth rate from 899,675 over the same period last year.

"The record, more than one million documented OFWs globally deployed, represents a significant milestone in the efforts to facilitate overseas employment. The figure has set a new pace for OFW deployment," Cruz said.

"Our global interventions shall be with emphasis on continuous services improvements toward documented, quality overseas employment, ensuring their welfare and protection, as well as their reintegration to the local socioeconomic mainstream upon their return," he added.

A report of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) showed that the deployment of land-based OFWs registered the highest growth, reaching 12.9 percent from 678,424 to 766,019 during the 11-month period.

Citing the POEA report, Cruz said the deployment of land-based OFWs in the new-hire category grew by 7.3 percent from 265,991 to 285,517, while those in the re-hired category increased by 16.5 percent from 412,432 to 480,502 in the same period.

During the same period, the global deployment of overseas Filipino seafarers rose by 10.8 percent from 221,521 to 245,129, Cruz said.

Despite the ban and slowdown in the deployment of Filipino workers abroad, the Philippines maintained its position as the top employment generator of domestic helpers and skilled workers, he said.

Earlier, Lebanon has started to get domestic workers from Nepal and Sri Lanka after the government implemented a deployment ban during the war that escalated between Hezbollah fighters and the Israeli government last July.

The recent departure of over 7,000 OFWs from Lebanon had created a huge demand for those families whose Filipino maids were evacuated and prompted the Lebanese to acquire domestic help from other countries.

A slow down in the deployment of OFWs in Taiwan brought by the falsification of employment documents also hurdled the overseas employment rate, resulting in a drop of 30 percent from September to October of almost 1,000 Filipino workers.

However, Labor and Employment Secretary Arturo Brion announced recently that Taiwan has lifted the ban on the deployment of Filipino workers there following the claim of recruitment agencies that the hiring of OFWs came to halt due to the falsification of employment and travel documents.

"Taiwan has already agreed to accept the Social Security System (SSS) identification cards in proving the identities of our workers. The deployment of Filipino workers in Taiwan is expected to return to its normal process soon," Brion said.