Before the signing of the joint circular, only members of GAMCA (Gulf Countries Council Accredited Medical Clinics Association), which is made up of 19 medical clinics, could conduct the medical examinations of OFWs bound for the Middle East countries of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, UAE and Saudi Arabia, which altogether have a yearly deployment of over 350,000 new hires.
This is prohibited in Republic Act 10022, said Lito Soriano, who was with fellow recruiters Edwina Beech and John Bertiz when Garin signed the joint circular.
“Section 16 of the law states that ‘no group or groups of medical clinics shall have a monopoly of exclusively conducting health examinations on migrant workers for certain receiving countries; that every Filipino migrant worker shall have the freedom to choose any of the DOH-accredited, or DOH-operated, clinics that will conduct his/her health examination and that his/her rights as a patient are respected,’” he said.
The Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Migrant Workers and Overseas Act of 1995, as amended by RA 10022 also prohibits the so-called decking practice, which requires OFWs to register first before being “farmed out” or referred to a medical clinic, Soriano said.
Long lines, long wait
“As everyone in the overseas recruitment services sector knows, it takes GAMCA member clinics 5 to 10 days to release results of OFW medical examinations,” he added.
Soriano, who heads his own recruitment agency, said the decking system has resulted in long lines of OFW applicants snaking along Manila’s streets leading to GAMCA offices.
Since 1999, the recruitment industry has opposed the decking system and the exclusive accreditation of GAMCA clinics for OFWs bound for the Middle East.
“Time and again and years ago, we in the overseas recruitment services sector have been pointing out that this medical referral decking system is time-consuming and severely inconveniences worker-applicants,” Soriano said.
The Joint Memorandum Circular was prepared by the Inter Agency Task Force composed of representatives from the Department of Health, Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Justice, and Department of Foreign Affairs.
After the joint memo circular is forwarded to Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, and Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, it will be published and implemented by the DOH and the DOJ.
DOJ has authority to investigate clinics that will violate the rules of the circular.
Various migrant workers’ organizations welcomed the move.
