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| Labatt de la Torre asked for reprieve for the local hires |
The move is in line with DOLE’s staff realignment for all
overseas posts.
According to a POLO insider, two of the so-called local
hires would reportedly leave for Manila soon to undergo training on overseas
deployment under the supervision of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
The training will hopefully allow them to assume permanent
items in Manila that will pave for their eventual overseas deployment once DOLE’s
plan is set in motion. It is not clear whether they would be allowed to return
to their POLO posts after the training.
In their absence, DOLE has allowed POLO to recruit two local
hires on emergency basis. Several people have reportedly applied for the newly
opened posts but their credentials are awaiting evaluation by Labor Attache
Jalilo de la Torre, who will be returning from vacation on Jan 12.
One of the six, meanwhile, is applying for a transfer to the
Overseas Workers Welfare Office in Hong Kong, which is also attached to POLO, while
two other local hires remain as drivers of the labor office. Their future likewise
remains uncertain.
The local hires’ immediate relief was put on hold after Labor
Attache Jalilo de la Torre asked the DOLE head office to spare them the axe
because of the heavy workload in Hong Kong over the holiday season.
During this period, POLO staff including Labatt De la Torre,
had to work even at weekends and holidays to speed up the processing of exemptions
for the overseas employment certificate for thousands of home-bound OFWs. – Vir B. Lumicao
