Friday, November 24, 2006 RP fails to meet targeted labor deployment to S. Korea
THE government has not been able to meet its target quota of Filipino workers to be deployed to South Korea under the employment permit system (EPS) since an agreement covering the deployment was forged between the two countries a few years go.
Labor Secretary Arturo Brion said of the 10,000 yearly quota, the country was only able to send 6,500 workers because many of the workers who applied for work in South Korea failed the language test.
"This is an area that we have some deficiencies which needs strengthening," Brion said.
He also said the applicants lacked interest in learning the Korean language.
But recruitment companies sending Filipino laborers to South Korea said the reason why the EPS never reached its target quota is because the benefits are more comprehensive under a trainee program inked between licensed recruitment agencies and the Alien Trainee Cooperation Program of the Korean Federation of Small and Medium Business (KFSMB).
"The trainee program is clearly more advantageous for the OFW (Overseas Filipino Worker) since board and lodging is free for the first year and they are not levied taxes by the Korean government," the recruitment agencies said.
Moreover, a trainee and an EPS worker receive a minimum wage of US$700 per month but EPS workers have to pay for their board and lodging, including food, and since they are given work permits as workers, they have to pay taxes like ordinary Korean workers
Lee Yun Mung, executive corps commissioner of the KFSMB Workforce Corps, had requested six Philippine licensed recruitment agencies accredited under the trainee worker program to sign their renewal of contracts from Nov. 22 to 24, 2006 as part of Article 34 in their agreement for their new labor quotas.
The six agencies accredited to send trainee workers to Korea are: Jerphi Placement, Equi-Asia, Dalzhen Labor Int., Powerhouse, and World Net under the Philippine Agencies Accredited to Korea Association (Philamkor).
There are 50,000 Filipino workers in South Korea employed in factories and business establishments under the trainee system. (MSN/Sunnex)
