Amendments to RP-CNMI bilateral pact readied

The Philippines and CNMI governments have agreed to sign a bilateral labor agreement in fresh efforts to better protect an estimated 20,000 Filipino workers in the Northern Marianas, RP Labor Undersecretary Felicisimo Joson disclosed yesterday.

Mr. Joson, former chief of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, met with Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio and other Commonwealth labor officials for an informal consultative meeting called for by an existing memorandum of agreement on labor between the Philippines and the CNMI.

According to Mr. Joson, the reforms undertaken by the administration of Mr. Tenorio reaffirms the Commonwealth’s commitment at providing migrant workers here with adequate means of protection against labor abuses.

“The CNMI government has been doing its best to improve the conditions of our Filipino workers here. This is what we are told by the Philippine Consulate which we had confirmed during our two-day visit,” he said in an interview.

The Philippine labor official is on a Micronesian mission with POEA Director Fely Romero and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration Deputy Administrator Virginia Son.

They flew to Palau yesterday afternoon with Labor Attaché Atty. Araceli Maraya and OWWA officer Ernie Regino for the last leg of the Guam-Saipan-Koror labor mission.

Mr. Joson said both the Philippine and CNMI delegations have agreed to amend certain provisions of the existing bilateral labor agreement. The amended agreement is expected to be signed in Manila by middle of next month.

A technical committee composed of labor officials from each government has been tasked to spell out the details of the agreement.

One of the proposed amendment to the bilateral agreement is the guarantee that the issuance by the POEA of the Overseas Employment Certificate would ensure that the workers are fully covered by a contract endorsed and approved by the CNMI government.

Mr. Joson said this would also discourage illegal entry of Filipino workers into the Northern Marianas.
“Through this, we can prevent plain tourists from coming in and work without being processed by the POEA and the corresponding clearance from the Philippine government.”

“That is the substance and result of the mission that we have conducted,” he said, adding that a permanent commission represented by officials from the CNMI and the Philippines had also been created and is set to meet each year alternately on Saipan and in Manila.
Also an important agenda tackled was the agreement to devise a consultative forum that will be tasked to craft working arrangements on labor documentation, implement guidelines and provide a review mechanism.

Mr. Joson said he is confident the bilateral agreement will be signed during the scheduled meeting in Manila next month. “By then, we should be ready to firm up what we have discussed during our mission here.”

He also said the Philippine government is relieved that Filipino workers in the Northern Marianas are in better condition, thanks to the efforts carried out by the Tenorio Administration, which consistently institute programs aimed at protecting and promoting the interests of migrant workers here.