SEN. Raffy Tulfo told owners of lodging houses providing temporary accommodations to overseas Filipino workers waiting for deployment abroad to improve their facilities within a month or face closure.
Tulfo, chairman of the Committee on Migrant Workers, said he inspected several temporary accommodation houses in Metro Manila after receiving numerous complaints from OFWs about the “prison-like” conditions at these houses.
Tulfo said the lodging houses had small bedrooms crammed with about 40 OFWs, with not enough beds, restrooms with no shower, toilet bowls that don’t flush, no doors for privacy, lack fire extinguishers, no fire exits, no available first aid kits, inadequate ventilation, no working water dispensers, and no prayer rooms.
Tulfo said that among the temporary accommodation houses found with defective structures and lacking in amenities are the Mondial Overseas Corporation Private Employment Agency, which has two facilities located in Quezon City owned by the Collado family, and MEJA International Manpower Agency in Paco, Manila.
Officials of the Department of Migrant Workers accompanied Tulfo during the inspection.
He also asked DMW officials to make sure that improvements in the facilities follow the department’s guidelines and standards and are made within a month, otherwise, he would recommend their closure.
