PRESS RELEASE

PR-013-2023

20 January 2023, Singapore – Migrant Workers’ Office (MWO) Labor Attaché Atty. Margarita Eugenia F. Victorino-Marquez will conclude her tour of duty on 25 January 2023 in Singapore after a year and a half of leading the MWO, formerly the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO), in serving our kababayans, particularly Filipino workers in Singapore. 

Prior to her post in Singapore, Labatt Victorino was assigned as Labor Attaché at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) of the Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver from 28 January 2018 until August 2021. 

Among the accomplishments of the MWO under her term are the following:  

• Successfully negotiated the first Bilateral Labor Agreement between the Philippines and Singapore in the form of the Joint Communique on the Recruitment of Filipino Healthcare Workers. The JC was signed during the State Visit of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to Singapore on 6-7 September 2022;
• Assisted in the passage of POEA Governing Board Resolution 04 Series of 2022 abolishing the requirement of the Performance Bond and Banker’s Guarantee for Contract Verification of Filipino Domestic Workers and for Accreditation of Foreign Recruitment Agencies;
• Worked for the accreditation of Facebook (Meta) and Google, among other multinational companies;
• Conducted, in partnership with the Philippine Embassy, the quarterly Post Arrival Orientation Seminar (PAOS) which benefited more or less 400 newly arrived Filipino Domestic Workers;
• Assisted in the successful rescue and repatriation of twenty two (22) seafarers on board MTM Rio Grande docked at Mykolaiv, Port of Ukraine in March 2022; and
• For the year 2022, processed the verification of a total of 58, 322 Individual Contracts and approved 473 Job Orders with a total of 34, 504 manpower requirements; 24,070 Overseas Employment Certificates (OEC) through the new POEA Online Processing System.

Chargé d’ Affaires, a.i. Emmanuel R. Fernandez, led the officers of the Philippine Embassy in commending and thanking Labatt Victorino for her  dedication and untiring service to Filipinos in Singapore. Following Labatt Victorino’s exit call on 19 January 2023, CDA Fernandez presented her with a Certificate of Appreciation and gave her his best wishes for her future professional and personal endeavors.

Pending the arrival of the new Labor Attaché, Assistant Labor Attaché Atty. Eduard C. Ferrer will serve as Officer-in-Charge of the MWO. (END)