OFWs to Benefit from Passage of Anti-Age Discrimination Law – Ople

By: InterAksyon.com

MANILA – Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), and not just local workers, stand to benefit from a new anti-age discrimination law that would give those returning a foothold in the domestic workforce, OFW advocate and former labor undersecretary Susan Ople said Wednesday.

“This is historic and very timely, considering that recent troubles in the global economy particularly in the Middle East have driven many of our workers to abruptly end their contracts and begin a new chapter here at home,” Ople said.

Age discrimination has been cited as a barrier to reintegrating OFWs wishing to make a fresh start back home; as well as a push factor for more women leaving as domestic workers abroad, the head of the Blas F. Ople Policy Center, a non-profit organization that specializes in labor migration, noted.

The Ople Center had led a coalition of OFW and labor groups that endorsed the passage of the anti-age discrimination law through an online petition. “Abilidad, hindi Edad” was the coalition’s battlecry.

According to the Center, most job openings in the country even for factory and utility work come with very specific age requirements, forcing job applicants to consider applying for vulnerable but less restrictive positions abroad.

“The OFW sector has been fighting for the passage of this law for so long. Now that it will soon be enacted, we hope that the private sector will cooperate, and expand their job hiring programs to include qualified albeit older employees,” Ople said.

She also called on the government to set a good example by accepting qualified employees of all ages.

“In filling up thousands of new positions, the incoming administration will hopefully adopt an anti-age discrimination policy across all agencies,” Ople said.

(Source: InterAksyon.com)