Date Filed: 05 September 2018

Pursuant  to  the  provisions  of  the  Omnibus  Rules  Implementing  the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995, as amended by Republic Act No. 10022, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) shall regulate private sector participation in the recruitment and overseas placement by setting up a licensing and registration system.

The POEA Governing Board issued a Governing Board Resolution No. 07, Series of 2016 adopting the Revised Rules POEA Rules and Regulations Governing the Recruitment and Employment of Landbased Overseas Filipino Workers of 2016. Then Section 11 of Rule II, Part II, provides:

Section 11. Issuance and Validity of a Provisional License. - Within five (5) working days from satisfaction of the post-qualification requirements, the Administration shall issue a provisional license which shall be valid within a non-extendible period of two (2) years from date of issuance. (Underline supplied.)

However, despite the mandatory language of the above-cited provision that a provisional license shall be valid within a non-extendible period of two (2) years  from  date  of  issuance,  several  licensed  recruitment  agencies  are requesting for the extension of their provisional license in order to comply with the deployment of one hundred (100) workers to its new principal.

There are recent events affecting the deployment of Filipino workers to include the previously imposed deployment ban to Kuwait, the temporary suspension of processing of cleaners to Qatar, the Saudization policy and the financial crisis in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as well as the temporary suspension  of  licenses  for  recruitment  of  expatriate  manpower  in  some professions in the Sultanate of Oman and the transition for the Japan deployment under  the  Japan  International  Training  Cooperation  Organization  (JITCO)  to Office for the Technical Intern Training (OTIT).

In view of the foregoing and in order to promote full employment opportunities, the implementation of Section 11 Rule II, Part II of the Revised Rules POEA Rules and Regulations Governing the Recruitment and Employment of Landbased Overseas Filipino Workers of 2016 is held in abeyance and the necessary guidelines for the approval of the request for extension will be issued.

For strict compliance.

These Circular shall be effective fifteen (15) days after publication in a newspaper of general circulation.

(SGD) BERNARD P. OLALIA
Administrator