The recruitment industry warned of massive drop in hiring of Filipino workers abroad in the last months of 2010 after the government rejected calls to suspend implementation of the mandatory insurance scheme.

The government has reported a 52 percent drop in the processing of overseas employment contracts in the first two weeks of the new policy’s implementation, but recruitment leaders said it could drop further in the coming weeks.

Recruiters maintained that many foreign employers from the Middle East, Hong Kong and Taiwan are strongly against the policy requiring insurance coverage for Filipino workers.

According to recruiters, Middle East, Hong Kong and Taiwan are among the country’s biggest markets for OFWs.

Under the newly amended Migrant Workers Act, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) would require a certificate of insurance coverage before using an overseas employment certificate (OEC).

Recruiters, in a meeting with POEA chief Jennifer Manalili called for the deferment of the insurance scheme’s implementation until the National Insurance Commission allows a lower insurance premium.

But the POEA rejected the recruiters' demand, thus the government would continue the implementation of the new requirement.

Recruiters insisted that they could not afford the minimum $72 insurance premium for landbased workers and $100 for sea-based workers.