Philippine labor officials confirmed to legislators that employers who confiscate the passports of overseas Filipino workers are committing a contract violation — and that this breach can be used to lift any hold on those workers.
Department of Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said labor attachés are equipped to engage both employers and host governments on the issue, noting that most countries involved in the current regional crisis have domestic laws prohibiting passport retention.
“Sanay naman po ‘yung mga labor attaches natin to talk to the employers along those lines and also the host government because just about every country involved in this crisis has laws against non-withholding of passports. So we can coordinate with the employer and with the host government as well,” Cacdac said.
DMW Undersecretary Jainal Rasul Jr. explained that Migrant Workers Offices work directly with employers to secure the release of confiscated travel documents, and turn to Philippine recruitment agencies and their foreign counterparts when direct negotiation falls short.
“Bawal po ang withholding ng passports. That is why kung may mga tumatakbong distressed workers at hino-hold ng mga employer, ang depensa po natin kapag may violations, kapag wini-withheld po ‘yung passport, contract violation ‘yun at pwede po i-waive, i-lift ‘yung hold,” Rasul said.
The disclosures came during a joint congressional hearing of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs, where lawmakers examined the government’s contingency preparations for Filipinos in the Middle East.
Agimat Party-list Rep. Bryan Revilla, who chairs the overseas workers committee, pressed officials on what concrete steps were being taken for OFWs who want to return home but cannot because their employers are holding their documents.
Cacdac confirmed that cases of employer-held passports have led to repatriation requests, and that assistance is being extended to those workers. He noted that most affected individuals are semi-skilled or skilled workers who do have possession of their own passports, while some are being referred to the Department of Foreign Affairs due to expired travel documents.
A more persistent obstacle, Cacdac said, involves OFWs with pending cases or immigration records in their host countries. He cited Kuwait as a specific example, where Philippine officials are coordinating with immigration authorities to clear approximately 50 Filipinos with outstanding records before they can depart.
