On Wednesday (July 14), the Labor Department ordered the lifting of the deployment suspension for foreign Filipino employees to Israel.
DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello III urged Labor Attaché Rodolfo Gabasan of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Israel to withdraw the directive immediately in a memo.
Gov’t Lifts Deployment Suspension on Israel
“In the interest of service and based on the recommendation of the Department of Foreign Affairs to withdraw the temporary suspension of departure of OFWs to Israel as there have been low-level incidents between the Israel Defense Force and Palestinian militant groups since the Hamas ceasefire took effect on May 21, 2021, you are hereby instructed to effect the lifting of the suspension of the temporary departure of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) to Israel effective immediately,” the document stated, the Philippine News Agency reported.
DOLE also stated that the decision was made based on the Foreign Affairs Department’s suggestion.
Previously, Bello stated that Israel was looking to recruit more Filipino labor in the health and tourist sectors.
Once the suspension is lifted, around 1,000 OFWs will be deployed to Israel.
Following confrontations between Israeli military and Hamas militants in May, the government temporarily banned the deployment of OFWs to Israel.