DMW, DILG to craft joint circular for seasonal farm workers in South Korea

The Department of Migrant Workers and the Department of the Interior and Local Government are creating a joint circular that will contain directives and rules for seasonal farm worker arrangements, according to a 24 Oras report by JP Soriano on Tuesday.

The creation of the circular was prompted by a wide variety of complaints from seasonal overseas Filipino workers in South Korea, including incidents similar to that experienced by AJ Muega, a seasonal farmer in Gangwon-do, South Korea whose pay was cut by a Korean broker upon arrival in the country.

“Naging unfair po yung sahod namin kasi po yung pinirmahan po namin dun sa kontrata, nasa 80,000. Pagdating po namin sa Korea po, binabaan po nila. Napunta po dun sa broker po, sa nagpapalipad sa amin. Halos nahati po yung sahod namin, sir,” said Muega.

AJ is only one among hundreds of Filipino workers who were employed under the Seasonal Farm Worker Arrangement, which are legal direct hiring contracts between South Korean and Filipino local government units for seasonal farming.

However, the arrangement is directly between Philippine and South Korean LGUs and does not include oversight by the DMW.  

“From the Philippine side, kailangang bantayan yung kapakanan ng mga workers. Ang may expertise sa ganitong larangan kasi ang DMW para tignan kung ang kontrata nila ay sapat, yung working conditions nila yung living conditions nila ay sapat, yung sweldo kung akma ba yan and just as important yung pag enforce kung may mangyari. Sino mananagot kapag may nangyaring violations?” asked DMW Officer-in-Charge Hans Cacdac.

As of 2023, the DMW recorded over 40 different incidents from seasonal farm worker OFWs in South Korea. — Jiselle Casucian/DVM, GMA Integrated News