Question & AnswerQ&A (POEA Governing Board Resolution No. 28)
The POEA Governing Board is authorized by Republic Act No. 10022 to impose a ban on the deployment of Filipino migrant workers in pursuit of national interest or when public welfare requires it, after consultation with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
The total deployment ban was prompted by the continued spread of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, and the DFA raising the Crisis Alert Level to Alert Level 3 (Voluntary Repatriation), including the decision to pull out Filipino peacekeepers from UNMIL.
It was adopted on December 8, 2014 and filed on January 5, 2015.
The total deployment ban covers all Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) bound for Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
POEA Governing Board Resolution No. 14, Series of 2014, dated July 4, 2014, imposed a temporary suspension on the processing and deployment of newly hired OFWs to those countries but allowed the deployment of vacationing/returning workers.
The Crisis Alert Level was raised from Alert Level 2 to Alert Level 3 (Voluntary Repatriation) effective December 1, 2014.
The DOLE automatically imposes an absolute deployment ban and instructs Filipinos in those countries to return to the Philippines.
The signatories include Secretary of Labor and Employment Rosalida Dimapilis-Baldoz (Chairperson), Vice-Chairman Hans Leo J. Cacdac, and Members Estrelita S. Hizon, Alexander E. Asuncion, Felix M. Oca, and Milagros Isabel A. Cristobal.
A deployment ban may be imposed when national interest demands it or when public welfare requires it, such as the risk to the health and safety of migrant workers due to infectious disease outbreaks.
It imposes a total and absolute deployment ban, prohibiting any new deployments of Filipino workers to Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone while the ban is in effect.