Recruiters stop deployment of maids to Singapore

A group of local recruiters has declared a moratorium on the deployment of household service or ers ( s) to ingapore.

he Association of icensed ecruitment Agencies for inga pore (A A ) yesterday said all their mem ers ould stop send ing Filipino s to ingapore starting today.

ucita ermonia, A A president, said they declared a moratorium in a id to stop their counterparts in ingapore from collecting placement fees.

e say no to placement fee collections that are done through deductions from the monthly salaries of the or ers, ermonia said in a statement.

he said their group is push ing for reforms in the hiring of s, including a stop to the collection of placement fees.

e are telling our counter parts in ingapore a out the need to adhere to hilippine la s and rules on overseas employment hich prohi it the collection of placement fees from household service or ers, ermonia said.

he called on other recruit ment agencies to oin the mora torium and also stop collecting placement fees to avoid cancel lation of their licenses.

hilippine verseas m ployment Administration ( A) chief ans Cacdac said the government supports any move to uphold the house hold reform pac age, hich includes the prohi ition on placement fee collection.

e said any recruitment agency that ill violate the policy ould face cancellation of its license to operate and ould e arred from deploy ing or ers a road.

arlier this year, recruit ers sending domestic helpers to ong ong also staged a deployment moratorium to pressure their counterparts to a ide y A rules.

ermonia said they ould not resume deployment of s until the foreign recruit ment agencies in ingapore ill agree to stop the collection of placement fees.

According to ermonia, in gaporean employers have agreed to comply ith the minimum monthly pay of for Filipino s as early as last year.

he ingaporean employ ers compliance sho s that they can afford and are ill ing to pay for the services of s, although collection of fees has remained a pro lem since many agencies refuse to discard the practice, she said.

he said the moratorium is a private initiative of A A . he urged concerned govern ment agencies to underta e measures to prevent illegal deployment of s to in gapore.