Let’s be Facebook friends, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has told recruitment agencies that deploy household services workers overseas.

According to a POEA statement, released yesterday (2 March), it will require recruitment agencies to have Facebook accounts from 13 March to provide a communication platform for deployed domestic workers and to submit reports to the POEA.

There is no requirement for the workers to have Facebook accounts.

In announcing the requirement, POEA administrator Hans Cacdac reiterated it was the recruitment agency’s responsibility to ensure their workers’ wellbeing and welfare.

The agencies are legally obliged to submit reports to the POEA on the status and condition of their deployed workers.

Meanwhile, another POEA statement released yesterday said it is filing a case of illegal recruitment against the owner and staff of recruitment agency Jomhadz International Corporation, which it found had been acting without a licence.

POEA officers closed down the recruiter’s offices in Antipolo and Manila last week and its prosecution team is currently preparing charges based on information from workers recruited for a Japanese wine factory.