OVER 400 Filipino caregivers will soon be deployed to Israel despite the ongoing armed conflict in the West Asian country, according to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).
In an online press briefing on Wednesday, POEA Administrator Bernard P. Olalia said they will push through with the deployment since they have yet to receive any advisory from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to stop sending overseas Filipino workers (OFW) in Israel.
“They will be deployed as home-based care givers under our bilateral labor agreement [with Israel]. Their processing will soon be completed,” Olalia said.
He said they will start the recruitment for the second batch of another 500 Filipino caregivers, who will also be deployed in Israel under a government-to-government arrangement.
Qualifications
Due to the high demand of caregivers in Israel, Olalia said the Israeli government lowered the previous educational attainment requirement for its caregiver applicants —from having completed at least two years in college to being a high school graduate.
However, applicants must register with POEA’s website, submit the necessary requirements and skills certificate for caregiving to qualify for the vacancies.
“The whole process takes about two months. So if we complete the selection process this May, probably by July or August, we will be able to deploy them,” Olalia said.
Currently, around 600 people have already applied as caregivers bound for Israel.
Olalia explained that the Filipino caregivers are not covered by the 5,000 deployment cap for health-care workers under POEA Resolution No. 9.
New precautions
POEA said the Israeli government has committed that the Filipino caregivers who will arrive there will be deployed in areas far from the conflict areas.
Some areas in Israel and the Gaza strip are affected by the rocket exchange between Israelis and Palestinian forces, raising concerns on the safety of Filipinos in both areas.