New POEA administrator bares 7 priority areas

Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Undersecretary for Labor Relations Hans Leo J Cacdac formally assumed office on January 2 as new administrator of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), replacing former Administrator Carlos Cao Jr.

According to a DOLE press release, Cacdac immediately held a meeting of the POEA directorate and revealed “seven priority areas under (his) stewardship:”

1. Streamlining overseas Filipino worker (OFW) documentation and processing systems to provide more efficient services delivery to OFWs, starting with the restoration of the POEA’s ISO certification;
2. Strengthening enforcement of anti-illegal recruitment laws and licensed recruitment regulations;
3. Ensuring transparency and accountability in the development of policies and regulations–using institutionalized consultative mechanisms involving stakeholders in the sea-based and land-based sectors;
4. Protecting further certain types of OFWs, such as domestic workers and seafarers;
5. Pursuing vigorously bilateral agreements with receiving countries for the better protection and welfare of OFWs;
6. Improving and strengthening coordination with government agencies; and
7. Ensuring measures that implement and promote anti-corruption, anti-fixer, anti-red tape rules and regulations, including making the POEA Efficiency and Integrity Board operational.

“Administrator Cacdac will energize the POEA for better services delivery to its clients, particularly our OFWs,” Labor chief Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz said.

As DOLE undersecretary for labor relations, Cacdac was the Philippine representative to the 100th International Labor Organization (ILO) Conference in Geneva in June 2010. He successfully steered to conclusion the work of the ILO’s Committee on Domestic Workers on the provisions of the Convention on Decent Work for Domestic Workers and its accompanying Recommendation. The international instrument was later overwhelmingly adopted by the ILO Conference.

Prior to joining government service in 2001, Cacdac served poor and underprivileged townsfolk by providing legal expertise as associate lawyer of the Sentro ng Alternatibong Lingap Panligal (SANLIGAN). This legal resource non-governmental organization (NGO) is engaged in development work with women, workers, farmers and fishermen, the urban poor, and local communities.

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