PH readies new rules for foreign workers
BEIJING— The Philippines is finalizing new rules to weed out illegal foreign workers amid concerns over tax evasion and loss of job opportunities for Filipinos.
A thriving online gaming industry that requires Mandarin proficiency has resulted in an influx of workers from mainland China.
However, some entered as tourists but stayed longer to work for Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos).
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said a high-level interagency committee, created two weeks ago to address illegal foreign labor in the Philippines, had mapped out a new framework for the issuance of special working permits (SWP) and alien employment permits (AEP).
Tax identification number
“We already had three meetings and we are finalizing the new process for the issuance of SWP as well as AEP. It should be coming out anytime,” Bello told reporters on Saturday.
The new rules will require foreign workers to obtain a tax identification number before they can get the AEP from the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole), Bello said.
This is to ensure that they pay the appropriate taxes, addressing concerns on tax leakage raised by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, who initiated the creation of the interagency committee.
The new framework will also clarify the list of jobs in the Philippines that are open to foreigners.
Most Pogo workers are Chinese nationals with Dole-issued AEP, which is good for two years.
“We give an AEP to any foreigner if the work that they will do in the Philippines cannot be done by Filipinos or if it can be done but no Filipino would want to do it,” Bello explained.
On the other hand, the SWP is good for three months and renewable for three more. It is given to foreigners for shortterm work or gig, for instance, performing in a concert. Beyond the maximum period of six months, a foreigner must get AEP to stay longer.
Bello said there had indeed been an influx of Chinese workers in the Philippines because of Pogos as well as businesses operating in special economic zones.