A non-government organization (NGO) specializing on labor migration, warned medical clinics and recruitment agencies catering to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) not to fall for a scheme hatched allegedly by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Ministry of Health, which imposes a $10 online registration fee for every Middle East-bound OFW applicant.
“This online registration scheme appears to be a multi-million peso scam targeting our OFWs,” said Susan Ople, head of Blas F. Ople Policy Center, in a statement.
Ople said the online medical registration scheme would earn the GCC Ministry of Health at least P222 million per year. The Philippines deployed 333,671 newly hired workers to GCC member-countries in 2015 based on Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) data.
The Ople Center said OFWs bound for the Middle East were now being required to pay an extra $10 in registration fee online for a preemployment medical examination. The new requirement was allegedly imposed by the GCC Ministry of Health.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
