Question & AnswerQ&A (POEA Governing Board Resolution No. 01)
Republic Act No. 10022 authorizes the POEA Governing Board, after consultation with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), to impose a ban on the deployment of Filipino migrant workers in pursuit of national interest or when public welfare so requires.
The resolution allowed the processing and deployment of returning workers of UN-related organizations or international non-governmental/civil society organizations bound for Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea, subject to compliance with specific requirements amid the Ebola Virus Disease outbreak.
The affected countries were Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea, due to the Ebola Virus Disease outbreak.
POEA Governing Board Resolution No. 14, s. 2014 imposed a temporary suspension on the processing and deployment of newly-hired OFWs to these countries, allowing only vacationing/returning workers. Later, Resolution No. 28, s. 2014 imposed a total deployment ban for all OFWs bound for these countries.
The DFA recommended maintaining a 21-day mandatory quarantine for returning OFWs from Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea and to maintain Alert Level 3 status for these countries.
Returning workers must execute a statement acknowledging they are returning against government advice, and their employer/agency/organization must issue an undertaking to be responsible for their treatment and repatriation if they become infected.
The resolution was signed by Rosalida Dimapilis-Baldoz (Secretary of Labor and Employment and Chairperson of the Governing Board), Hans Leo J. Cacdac (Vice-Chairman), and members Estrelita S. Hizon, Alexander E. Asuncion, Felix M. Oca, and Milagros Isabel A. Cristobal.
The POEA Governing Board has the authority to regulate, suspend, or impose a ban on the deployment of overseas Filipino workers in the interest of national welfare and public health, in coordination with the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Employers or organizations must provide an undertaking that they will be responsible for the treatment and repatriation of their Filipino workers if they become infected with Ebola Virus Disease.
The 21-day quarantine period is the incubation period for Ebola Virus Disease, and mandatory quarantine helps prevent the spread of the virus by ensuring that returning workers are monitored for symptoms before integrating back into the community.