RP, Catholic NGO ink pact to help OFWs in Lebanon

Overseas Filipino workers in Lebanon are expected to get added protection in their work with the signing of a new pact by Philippine officials and a Church-supported non-government organization based there.

The Philippine Embassy in Lebanon and Caritas Lebanon Migrant Center (CLMC) signed a memorandum of cooperation at the CMLC Headquarters in Beirut Wednesday.

"The memorandum aims to further strengthen their common effort to protect the rights and promote the welfare of Filipinos in Lebanon based on international and national human rights standards," the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported Friday.

This is the first memorandum of cooperation signed by Caritas with an embassy in Lebanon, the DFA added.

Signing the pact were Philippine Ambassador Gilberto Asuque and Caritas Lebanon President Fr. Simon Faddoul.

Labor Attaché Nathaniel Lacambra co-signed the memorandum to emphasize the important role of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in assisting OFWs in Lebanon.

Present during the signing ceremony were officials of the Embassy, POLO and Caritas.

After the signing ceremony, Asuque and Faddoul exchanged their copies of the memorandum of cooperation.

Under the memorandum:


* the CLMC will accommodate distressed Filipinos referred by the Embassy and offer available social, medical and legal assistance;

* The Embassy and the CLMC will address problems with the implementation of the employment contracts of Filipino domestic workers;

* CLMC will organize orientation and training programs for Filipino domestic workers;

* CLMC will organize training sessions for Filipinos sheltered in the Embassy's Filipino Workers Resource Center on such topics as communication, resolving disputes arising from work or in the work place, Lebanese culture, health care and social interaction;

* CLMC will organize training and awareness-raising sessions for the Embassy and the POLO staff to detect and address cases of abused Filipino migrant domestic workers; and

* CLMC will arrange regular visits of a doctor to the Embassy shelter to determine the medical needs of the wards in the shelter.

—Jerrie M. Abella/JV, GMANews.TV