Lithuania is counting the Philippines among the countries it will turn to first as it looks beyond its borders to fill jobs, its labor minister said after the two governments agreed to hold regular talks on the hiring and protection of Filipino workers.
“We support controlled migration, and this agreement is precisely part of that process,” Lithuanian Minister of Social Security and Labour Inga Ruginienė told reporters after she and Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo J. Cacdac signed a Joint Communiqué on September 25, 2026.
Ruginienė said the consultations would be used to pin down the occupations where Lithuania lacks workers, as well as the conditions both sides would commit to upholding.
Cacdac headed the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) delegation, which also sat down with other Lithuanian officials, including Vice-Minister Aušra Putk of the Ministry of Social Security and Labour. In a separate briefing with Putk, DMW Undersecretary Jainal T. Rasul Jr. and his team took up available jobs and the gaps in Lithuania’s workforce.
The communiqué sets out the areas the two sides will cover in their talks: where openings exist in Lithuania’s job market, how recruitment can be kept fair and transparent, what employment procedures and working conditions apply, and how workers’ rights and welfare are safeguarded. Equal treatment of workers is also on the list, along with return and readmission.
The agreement further commits Manila and Vilnius to cooperate and exchange information on illegal recruitment, human trafficking, and cross-border recruitment.
