For the past several days since March 20,2025 inspection teams from the Licensing and Adjudication Office of Undersecretary Bernard Olalia, Department of Migrant Workers have made unannounced or surprise visits to accommodations facilities of (PRAs) private recruitment agencies deploying Household Service Workers to ascertain that accommodations provided by the PRAs are compliant with the new rules and regulations of the DMW.
The inspection of the accommodations facilities were to determine if the housing of applicants to work as HSWs are adequateUnder DMW Circular No. 30, Series of 2020 private recruitment agencies deploying Household Service Workers provide with adequate provisions such as beds, blankets, drinking water, toilet facilities and other amenities to ensure their decent living condition.
Several agencies inspected were found to have in-adequate living quarters, beds and lacking toilet and sanitary facilities were given notices to improve or upgrade the current conditions in order to be accredited under the new memo circular to be issued by the DMW.
In the meantime the recruitment sector is committed fully support DMW rules for accommodations
The association of recruitment agencies deploying domestic services are in full support of new rules to be promulgated by the Department of Migrant Workers for the accreditation of housing facilities for Household Service Workers to be deployed to various jobsites all over the world.
The Coalition of Licensed Agencies Deploying Services (CLADS) the umbrella organization of more than 200 member agencies held a General Meeting Thursday. March 20, 2025 at Crowne Plaza Hotel with representatives of the DMW to discuss the proposed Memorandum Circular for the accreditation of accommodation facilities of those agencies deploying HSWs.
This was In response to findings of Senator Raffy Tulfo, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Migrant Workers that applicants are staying in poor accommodations provided by the private recruitment agencies (PRAs)
Under DMW un-numbered circular to be issued private recruitment agencies deploying Household Service Workers are to provide with adequate provisions such, living quarters, beds, blankets, drinking water, toilet facilities, personal hygiene, internet, ventilation and other amenities to ensure their decent living conditions.
Meanwhile in the Senate Committee held recently by Senator Tulfo, Ms. Lucy Sermonia, President of CLADS pledged that all member agencies will be urged to improve or upgrade their accommodation facilities under the new Memo circular of the DMW that will govern the accreditation of their respective facilities.
Applicants for HSWs positions are housed in accommodations facilities while their documents for travel documents are being processed at the DMW and OWWA and at the same time the HSWs take NC II Courses at TESDA for Domestic Helpers were they are taught housekeeping chores like cooking, use of modern kitchen and household machines like oven, laundry, vacuum cleaners and household items.
The applicants also study basic language courses in Arabic, culture and other skills that prepare them for their jobs in the Middle East or other countries in the world.
PRAs provide the accommodation facilities for applicants who are normally sourced from the provinces usually from Luzon , Visayas and Mindanao where many PRAs have set up their own branches to recruit aspiring young women to become HSWs in order to help their families.
The HSWs staying at accommodations receive food, cash allowance for personal hygiene and load for their cellphones while waiting for the approval of visas or work permits.
According to migrant expert Emmanuel Geslani the yearly deployment of new hires for HSWs reaches Two Hundred Thousand (200,000) 2022-2024 annually lower than the pre-pandemic figure of Four Hundred Thousand new hires (400,000 ) between 2016-2019
