PASEI acknowledges the privilege of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to recommend clinics that can be used for medical examinations of workers bound for KSA.
PASEI does not oppose the formation of GAMCA as an association as an inviolable right of persons or entities to form associations.
PASEI commits to send workers for medical examination to medical clinics accredited by the GCC host countries.
However, agencies must be given the freedom to choose the clinic where they want to send their workers for medical examinations and not be subjected to a system of equal distribution or decking system as it remove the right to choose or freedom of choice.
- This is UNFAIR since only GCC-accredited clinics will be used to examine the workers. After all, since all of them passed GCC-accrediting standards there is no problem as to which ever medical clinic we use IF they are each equally trustworthy.
- The GAMCA medical referral decking system overlooks the disparity, inequality and different level of capability of the medical clinics. Some clinics maintain facilities that are inferior in comparison with the others which are BETTER.
- PASEI wants only to send workers for medical to the BEST available clinics from among those recommended and accredited by the GCC states.
- The decking system violates:
The non-impairment of contract and obligations clause of the Philippine Constitution.
Article 186 of the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines which prohibits monopolies ad combinations in restraint of trade.
Administrative No. 167, series of 2004 and Department Memorandum No. 2008-0210 of the Department of Health.
This scheme is disadvantageous to the Saudi Employers in general as their workers will not be examined by the best medical clinics before the deployment because we were deprived the chance to refer them to the best clinic amongst them.
Because some GAMCA accredited medical clinics have low quality medical services, workers may be found unfit when they are re-examined in KSA prior to the issuance of the iqama.
The alleged forgery of medical examination is committed by the medical clinics themselves and NOT by the agencies.
The grant of rebates is a practice introduced by the medical clinics, NOT by the recruitment agencies. Once “rebates” or patronage discount is eliminated, the cost of medical examination should be reduced.
The decking scheme is all about income and profit and not about giving the BEST MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS. Once the agencies get to select the best medical clinic from among those accredited by your country, the workers arriving to the Saudi employers will truly be medically fit workers as examined by the best medical examining clinics.
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