Deployment Ban for OFWs to Ebola-hit Countries

Republic Act No. 10022 authorizes the POEA Governing Board, after consultation with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), to impose a deployment ban in pursuit of national interest or when public welfare so requires.
POEA Governing Board Resolution No. 14, Series of 2014 dated July 04, 2014 imposed a temporary suspension of processing and deployment of newly-hired OFWs to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
POEA Governing Board Resolution No. 14, Series of 2014 also allowed processing and deployment of vacationing/returning workers to the above-cited countries.
The DFA, through a letter dated November 27, 2014, raised the crisis alert level for Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone from Alert Level 2 to Alert Level 3 (Voluntary Repatriation) effective December 01, 2014.

The deployment ban is imposed because of the spread of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in West Africa.
The DFA’s Alert Level 3 (Voluntary Repatriation) includes instructions that Filipinos are to return to the Philippines.
The resolution recognizes that the DFA’s Alert Level guidelines provide for an absolute deployment ban once Alert Level 3 is reached.

The resolution imposes a total deployment ban covering all OFWs bound for Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The ban applies to OFWs irrespective of hiring category, since the resolution states it covers all OFWs bound for the named countries.
The named countries covered are Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The ban is a deployment ban for OFWs bound for those countries.

The Governing Board resolves to impose a total deployment ban for all OFWs bound for Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The ban is imposed as a result of the DFA’s effective December 01, 2014 raising of the crisis alert level to Alert Level 3 (Voluntary Repatriation).
The resolution follows the DFA guidelines that require the DOLE to impose an absolute deployment ban at Alert Level 3.
The practical effect required by the DFA’s guidelines is that Filipinos in the covered situation are instructed to return to the Philippines.

The resolution is anchored on the transition from the earlier temporary suspension under POEA Governing Board Resolution No. 14, Series of 2014 (July 04, 2014) to a total deployment ban.
The decisive trigger used for escalation is the DFA’s November 27, 2014 letter raising the crisis alert level effective December 01, 2014 to Alert Level 3 (Voluntary Repatriation).
The resolution is adopted on December 08, 2014 and filed on January 05, 2015.