The newly appointed Philippine labor attaché has promised better services for the 250,000-strong Filipino community in the Eastern Province. Adam A. Musa assumed his new assignment as Philippine Overseas Labor Office labor attaché in the Eastern Province (POLO-ERO) on June 18, replacing David Des T. Dicang who was designated labor attaché in Kuwait. A career labor officer with a rank of labor attaché 11, Musa served at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office-Central Region Operations (POLO-CRO) and as assistant labor attaché at the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah in 2007. Since taking over as head of POLO-ERO, Musa has been traveling with his welfare officers to deal with problems of Filipino workers in far-flung areas of the region. “We have to take our services to our workers; it is our sworn task to serve them and we should be there when they need us,” he said. Musa said the POLO-ERO staff is already over-stretched because of the many service and support programs needed by the Filipino community. “We should always find solutions to problems with both our workers and their employers agreeing on an issue,” he stressed. He said the POLO-ERO team will be re-evaluated to become more effective, and that “personnel may be introduced, for example in the area of finance and fund management”. “As we value our workers, we also value their employers. I will use the reconciliation approach in finding solutions to problems faced by our workers. A Filipino worker and his employer must meet and agree somewhere during the negotiation process to end their differences. There should be dialogue between the worker and employer; elevating the problem to the labor office should be the last recourse and not the immediate step,” Musa pointed out. He said a pro-active approach with employers is an objective. “I will foster dialogue with Saudi employers; I will make it a point to be present when there is an opportunity to sit down with them, for example during the processing of employment contracts on Wednesdays and Thursdays,” Musa told the Saudi Gazette. Musa, a lawyer, has served the Philippine government for over 20 years. He started his career as Kabataang Barangay Chairman, Provincial Board Member, Overseas Workers Welfare Officer, Provincial Administrator, Deputy Executive Director and Deputy Administrator. He graduated in 1998 with a degree of Bachelor of Arts major in Political Science, and Bachelor of Laws from the Western Mindanao State University in Zamboanga City. “The task of serving our Filipino community here in the Kingdom is demanding; there is no other way but to tackle it with tact and a spirit of reconciliation,” Musa said. __
