The first batch of seasonal farm workers processed under the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Interim Pipeline Processing (IPP) system left for South Korea on Thursday.

In a statement Friday, the DMW said the IPP guarantees the rights and welfare of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) under the Seasonal Work Program (SWP), a clause under the sisterhood agreements between local government units of South Korea and the Philippines.

The SWP gives short-term employment to foreign agricultural workers to address labor shortage in South Korea during the peak planting and harvesting seasons.

It is managed by the Korean Ministry of Justice and the Korean Immigration Service.

The group, consisting of 39 workers from the towns of Apalit, Lubao and Magalang in Pampanga province, flew from via Clark International Airport.

Under the IPP, seasonal farm workers are protected as the DMW will ensure that they have valid work contracts, appropriate working conditions and insurance.

They will be covered as members of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.

“Natapos ng mga manggagawa ang mandatory pre-departure orientation seminar (PDOS) at nabigyan ng DMW ng kanilang Special Exit Clearance upang sila’y makaalis patungong South Korea (The workers completed their mandatory PDOS, and they secured their Special Exit Clearance so they could leave for South Korea),” the DMW statement read.

The DMW said there is no recruitment fee for SWP.

“We expect a few more batches of SWP workers leaving the country processed under the IPP in the coming days,” the DMW said.

On Jan. 11, DMW issued Advisory 1 that imposed a moratorium on the deployment of seasonal workers to Korea after the Migrant Workers Office in Seoul received 150 complaints from OFWs on questionable deductions in wages and brokers who collected hiring fees.

The DMW documented five cases of physical abuse, five medical cases, and four deaths in the course of two years since the deployment of workers under sisterhood agreements started in 2022, DMW officer-in-charge Undersecretary Hans Leo Cacdac earlier said. (PNA)