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2. To secure the best possible terms and conditions of employment of Filipino
contract workers on a government-to-government basis and to ensure compliance
therewith;

3. To recruit and place workers for overseas employment on a government-to-
government arrangement and in such other sectors as policy may dictate; and

4. To act as secretariat for the Board of Trustees of the Welfare and Training
Fund for Overseas Workers.

ART. 18. Ban on Direct-Hiring. No employer may hire a Filipino worker for
overseas employment except through the Boards and entities authorized by the
Secretary of Labor. Direct-hiring by members of the diplomatic corps, international
organizations and such other employers as may be allowed by the Secretary of Labor
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is exempted from this provision.

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ART. 19. Office of Emigrant Affairs. (a) Pursuant to the national policy to
maintain close ties with Filipino migrant communities and promote their welfare as
well as establish a data bank in aid of national manpower policy formulation, an
Office of Emigrant Affairs is hereby created in the Department of Labor. The Office
shall be a unit at the Office of the Secretary and shall initially be manned and
operated by such personnel and through such funding as are available within the
Department and its attached agencies. Thereafter, its appropriation shall be made
part of the regular General Appropriations Decree.

(b) The office shall, among others, promote the well-being of emigrants and
maintain their close link to the homeland by:

1) serving as a liaison with migrant communities;

2) provision of welfare and cultural services;

3) promote and facilitate re-integration of migrants into the national
mainstream;

4) promote economic; political and cultural ties with the communities; and

5) generally to undertake such activities as may be appropriate to enhance
such cooperative links.

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R.A. No. 8042 is silent on this respect. The Boards referred to in this Article pertain to the defunct OEDB and the NSB. With the changes introduced by E.O. No. 797 as amended by
E.O. No. 247, it now refers to the POEA. This article, however, should be read in relation to Sections 29 and 30 of R.A. No. 8042 which provides for the formulation of the deregulation plan
on recruitment activities and the gradual phase-out of regulatory functions of the POEA.

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Now the Commission on Filipinos Overseas attached to the Department of Foreign Affairs, pursuant to B.P. Blg. 79,
Other Purposes .

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