Filipinos sweat to meet employment certificate rule

Dubai facility overwhelmed by demand from those heading for vacation

Dubai: A surge in the number of applications for Overseas Employment Certificates (OECs) has led to people having to endure tiring waits at the Philippine Overseas Labour Office (Polo) in Dubai.

A number of Filipino expatriates have complained about having to wait for more than four hours for the OEC, which serves as a form of exit pass for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) travelling back home.

"They only have a few personnel to process the OEC of hundreds of applicants," said Pia Y. after a long wait for her certificate. "I arrived at 1:30pm and was given a priority number of 313. I was only served at 6:30pm. It was a very slow process. Authorities should speed up the process," she said

Ida C., another Dubai-based expatriate worker, received her certificate more than four hours after arriving at the centre at noon on Monday. She said she was heading to her province of Iloilo and wanted to get the document in Dubai itself before starting her holiday.

 

Tighter rules by authorities in the Philippines have made it mandatory for OFWs to present an OEC after visiting the country and before going back to their places of work. The requirement is meant to ensure that OFWs are properly documented and protected. An OEC costs Dh10 and exempts Filipino overseas workers from paying travel tax (Dh160). Expatriates have to personally apply for the certificate at the Polo office and show proof of employment and a valid residence visa.

Labour Attache Amilbahar Amilasan told Gulf News on Monday that the number of applications for OECs surged after the Philippines government announced through a newspaper in April that immigration officials had tightened the screening of workers and would require them to show proof of their employment abroad.

"So people thought they'd rather wait in the queue here than face difficulties in the Philippines," he said.

He said steps were being taken to increase staff levels. "But rest assured that despite the limited number of staff, we still work beyond office hours just to accommodate all approved applications for the day," he said.

Source: Gulf News

Philippine consulate ready for expected influx of expats Sunday

System in place to serve people requiring consular services, officials say

Dubai: Philippine consular officials are expecting an influx of Filipino expatriates from Dubai and the northern emirates as they resume operations at their new premises opening Sunday.

"Because of the week-long holiday, we are expecting a definite increase in the volume of Filipino expatriates who will require our services on Sunday," Consul General Benito Valeriano said. "We are prepared for that," he added.

Consular services such as releasing of electronic passports, notarial services, and processing of birth, marriage and death certificates will resume today.

Labour Attache Amilbahar Amilasan told Gulf News that they are ready for the influx of people at their new office in Al Ghusais. "We have a system in place to accommodate and serve our compatriots," he said. The two-storey Philippine Overseas Labour Office (Polo) houses four other government agencies.

 

Room 1 and Hall 2 are assigned for the processing of Overseas Employment Certificates (OEC) and housing loans from the state shelter financing agency, Pag-IBIG respectively. All overseas Filipino workers are required to file OECs to help ensure that they are properly documented and protected.

Contracts and other labour-related concerns will be processed in Hall 3.

The new Polo-Owwa office, located on Beirut Street, Community 234, Al Ghusais, is more accessible to the commuting public. Those who use public transport can take Bus 13, 32C, and 33 to reach the consulate.

Better off

With the opening of Dubai Metro's Green Line on September 9, commuters can go by train to Al Twar Centre station. Feeder buses are readily available from there.

Those riding the Metro's Red Line can go to the Rashidiya station and take a taxi from there for Dh15 or less.

"We are much better off now than before. We have room provisions for our training programmes and we can assign prayer rooms," Amilasan said.

"We now have functioning air-conditioning system, proper plumbing, and regular water supply," Assistant Labour Attache Venus Abad said.

This directly benefits the 57 Filipinos, including three toddlers and an infant, under the care of the Filipino Workers Resource Centre (FWRC), a halfway house for distressed Filipinos which operates in various countries, including the UAE

Source: Gulf News

Philippine Consulate gets fair rating from clients

Dubai: The move to combine the Philippine Consulate and the Philippine Overseas Labour Office under one roof in Al Ghusais received mixed reactions from Filipino expatriates as well as of other nationalities on its opening day yesterday.

Those who flocked to the consular offices lauded the effort, but said there is still more to be done.

The serpentine queues, which used to be a common sight outside the consulate, were no longer there. People were made to queue inside the building.

Web designer Ahmad Robledo said: "It's understandable that people are being made to wait because they have just started operations today." He said that the offices are now easier to locate because of the Philippine flag outside the consulate.

"Although the place is more spacious, there are no designated areas for us to fill out our application forms. We end up doing it outside," said Mary Grace, a manicurist.

More efficient in India

Cary, 48, an Indian who is marrying a Filipina, said the services of the Philippine Consulate in India is more efficient than in Dubai.

"The Philippine Consulate in India is faster than here because when I applied for a visa there, it only took four days. Here, it took 15 days," he said.

Visas requested from the Philippine Consulate in Dubai regularly take three to five working days to be processed.

Consul General Benito Valeriano said: "We are doing everything to make the services efficient but it can't be done overnight. The number of people we served today is three times the regular crowd."

Both halls were full of people earlier in the day. Each hall can accommodate 300 people at one time.

Some Filipinos also complained about the lack of computerised system for data processing.

"Filling out information sheets takes time, encoding it also takes time. Since our passports are now machine readable, they can just have it scanned and have our data ready right away," said J.B., an engineer who has been working in Dubai for the past five years.

Labour Attache Amilbahar Amilasan said application forms are available online and can be downloaded from their website to save on time.

Budget constraints

As for the computerised system, he said: "How we wish we can have a computerised system here in Dubai. We are already looking into that to save us time and paper, but we are operating on a limited budget here."

In the consulate, there are three working computers designated for data encoding for passports.

Valeriano has requested for additional budget and manpower from the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs.

The consulate currently has 27 staff while the labour office has 15.

Source: Gulf News

Philippines labour office to open in Al Ghusais

Dubai: The Philippine Overseas Labour Office (POLO) — Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) has sought to inform all Filipino expatriates that, beginning from Sunday, all its transactions will be conducted at its new office in Al Ghusais, Dubai.

"The POLO-OWWA will start its operations and processing of documents in its new location at Community 34, Al Ghusais beside the old site of the Philippine Consulate General effective August 28," Philippines Labour Attache Amilbahar Amilasan said in a statement. "Certainly, services of government to Filipino expats in Dubai and Northern Emirates will be enhanced and improved," he added.

The new trunk line and telephone numbers of the POLO-OWWA office are yet to be announced.

Services made easier

Labour Attache Amilasan said the move is a dream come true. "Many, if not all, have long wished for the Philippine Consulate General, the POLO-OWWA, DTI, Agriculture, Pag-Ibig, SSS, and other government offices in Dubai to be located in one compound, if not one building," he said.

Among those pleased with the move is J.M. Mendoza, a marketing executive with a travel agency. He said their daily dealings with the consular offices often consumed too much time in terms of waiting and travelling. "It was really difficult before because you have to go from POLO-OWWA, then travel again to the Philippine Consulate," he said.

The Philippines embassy and consular offices will be closed from August 28 to September 1 in view of Eid Al Fitr. Regular office hours will resume on September 4.