Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz announced yesterday that the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration governing board has issued governing board resolution No. 2 series of 2012, allowing the re-deployment of overseas Filipino workers who have came home to the Philippines to return to their work in the Yemen, a press release from DOLE said.

Baldoz, who is the Chairperson of the POEA Governing Board, said "The POEA Governing Board has issued the resolution after the Office of the President has approved the recommendation of the Department of Foreign Affairs lowering the Alert Level in Yemen from Alert Level 4 in Sana'a and Alert Level 3 for the rest of Yemen to Alert Level 2."

She said the recommendation was based on the improved political and security situation in the country and in response to the clamor of our OFWs who have returned but would like to go back in Yemen to work. However, the resumption of the deployment does not cover newly-hired workers as the deployment ban for them remains.

POEA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac, Governing Board Vice Chairperson and Leonardo de Ocampo and Guillermina Gabor, Members, also signed the resolution.

The POEA has deferred the processing and deployment of all OFWs bound for Yemen (including Libya and Bahrain) on February 22, 2011 because of the unstable political and security conditions in those countries then, the press release said.

On April 6, 2011, it allowed the processing and deployment of vacationing workers to Yemen, subject to certain requirements, when the DFA lowered the Alert Level for that country from Alert Level 3 to Alert Level 2.

On May 25, 2011, the POEA again raised the deployment ban on all OFWs to Yemen after the DFA raised Yemen's Alert Level to Alert Level 3.

The latest recommendation of the DFA was issued on January 9, 2012, the press release said.

To carry out the latest resolution on Yemen, Cacdac issued an advisory, yesterday, resuming the deployment of vacationing workers to their employment in Yemen except, however, for newly-hired OFWs, it added.*

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