MANILA, Oct. 13 (PNA) — The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has reminded overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to be wary of job opportunities being offered in Ebola virus-hit countries since there is an existing deployment ban in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
“They should not take the risk anymore of entertaining such offers because we have an existing deployment ban in those countries. This means their papers will not be legally processed by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA),” said DOLE Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz in an interview.
She noted that professional health workers should not entertain such job offers as they may fall as victims to illegal recruiters.
“If they entertain such offers, they will just run the risk of being victimized by illegal recruiters,” Baldoz said.
She issued the statement amid reports of the high demand for health care workers in Ebola-hit countries owing to the growing number of patients of the deadly virus.
The POEA Governing Board imposed a deployment ban for newly-hired OFWs bound for Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone in July after the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) raised Crisis Alert Level 2 in the three countries due to the spread of the Ebola virus.
Last month, POEA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac said a total deployment ban has been imposed on the three West African countries as a protective measure for OFWs against acquiring the dreaded disease.
The total deployment ban includes the processing and deployment of returning OFWs with existing employment contracts there. (PNA)