n e w s

In recent years, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) had received recommendations from Philippine missions in the Middle East to require incoming Filipino household service workers to undergo psychological tests.

On one hand, the request has been probably triggered by the recent spate of cases of runaway Filipino workers who are said to have been unable to adjust to life in the Middle East.

On the other hand, the proposal might have been caused by fears from employers who have heard of news of “unstable" Filipino domestic helpers who have killed their employers.

But the proposed mandatory psychological test received flak from various migrant workers’ groups who demanded that proponents be made to take the same examination first to determine who the real loon was. The proposal has yet to materialize.

GMANews.TV © 2008