17 December 2021, Seoul. The Philippine Embassy in Korea welcomed the arrival of 42 Filipino workers under the Employment Permit System (EPS) today, which brings to 251 the total number of workers who arrived in South Korea this December following the resumption of entry of EPS workers late last month. Of this, 200 are regular EPS workers while 51 are Sincere (or special re-entry) workers.

Ambassador Theresa Dizon - De Vega cites the coherent and coordinated efforts of the Philippine and Korean authorities to facilitate the orderly resumption of entry of workers, attesting to the strength of cooperation in the implementation of the EPS for the last 17 years.

"In the past months, we have been undertaking representations with Korean authorities to lift the previous suspension of visa issuance for Filipino EPS workers. We at the Philippine Embassy, together with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), worked closely with Korea's Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL), the Korean Embassy in the Philippines, the Human Resource Development Service in Korea (HRDK) as well as the HRD EPS Center in the Philippines to ensure that the work introduction procedure, including the pre-departure and departure arrangement for all the batches of EPS workers would happen in the shortest time possible with due consideration for the prevailing health protocols and new requirements", Ambassador de Vega said.

According to the health protocols of ROK, the newly arrived workers shall observe a minimum 10-day quarantine period in facilities designated by the MOEL and HRDK, and managed by the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business (KBIZ), where they will also be completing their post-arrival training, medical examination, and PCR-testing before they report to their respective employers. Meanwhile, all the workers have been vaccinated from COVID-19 and have negative PCR test results prior to their departure from the Philippines.

The Ambassador joined all the online pre-flight briefings for the workers organized by the POEA ? Government Placement Branch, together with Labor Attache Maya Valderrama of POLO-Korea. "With the resumption of entry of EPS workers, we are glad that your hopes to work in Korea as well as your dreams for your family can finally come true", the Ambassador told the workers. The Ambassador enjoined the arriving workers to continue honing their skills, and to actively participate in Embassy-led programs for the Filipino community such as financial literacy, entrepreneurship development, reintegration, and know-your-rights seminars which aim to support the successful sojourn of Filipino workers in South Korea.

"The Philippines remains committed to the effective and efficient implementation of the EPS, and will continue to cooperate in measures that will ensure the continued resumption of entry of our workers to Korea", Ambassador de Vega said. -END-