Previous Story
RP, CNMI to firm up labor agreement
|
Posted on Dec 10 1998
Philippine labor officials are arriving on Saipan next week for the renegotiation of a memorandum of agreement with the commonwealth to update and improve the guidelines for hiring and recruitment of Filipino workers for CNMI, according to Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio.
The memorandum, signed by former lieutenant governor Jesus C. Borja on behalf of the local government, was put in place in 1995 when abuses against Filipino employees were rampant.
It was envisioned to eliminate exploitation of Filipinos who were either unpaid or forced to work in another job category, and ensure that employers are capable of paying the salaries of their employees.
Under the agreement, Filipinos seeking jobs in the commonwealth must go through the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration to certify that their recruiters are licensed and that they meet the qualifications of the jobs they are applying for.
CNMI’s liaison office in Manila, which creation was provided in the agreement, then authenticates documents provided by Northern Marianas-bound Filipino employees to assure employers that their workers are qualified.
Former governor Froilan C. Tenorio abandoned plans to update the agreement after a barrage of criticisms from the Office of Insular Affairs, overseer of CNMI and other US territories, stemming from the rise in the presence of foreign workers in the islands and mounting labor complaints.
However, a number of local officials felt the agreement should be improved to make it more responsive to the current needs of both governments.
Meanwhile, Tenorio assured the Manila government that his administration will keep its office in the Philippine capital to assist Filipino workers.
“We’re not totally closing down the Philippine office. We’re just downsizing it because of funding problems we have right now,” the governor said in an interview.
The local government is planning to further trim down the operations of its Manila Liaison Office due to budgetary constraints by reducing its staff from five to two and hiring a health maintenance organization to handle its medical referral program.
