Labor Attache Jalilo de la Torre took to the “pulpit” on Apr 4 as part of his campaign to get more OFWs to register with BMOnline for easy access to an overseas employment certificate.He issued his call at the Church of Free Believers in Christ under Bishop Moises Chungalao, who couldn’t be present but was represented by Bishop Gerry T. Vallo.
Speaking at the pulpit, he urged the congregation to register online so that time would come when there would be no more queues for OEC on the Admiralty pedestrian bridges.
On Facebook, he noted that another system bug was its inability to read or accept the Spanish letter “ñ” commonly used in many Filipino surnames, and the lack of that letter on mobile and PC keypads.
So, naturally, when an overseas worker who had hand-written his POEA personal details years ago now applies for OEC exemption, he would insist on using “ñ”, but that would make a difference because the system does not read that “Spanish relic”, Labatt Dela Torre said.
“Please don’t use the Ñ in your name because the system does not recognize that Spanish relic and the evaluator will not be able to complete the evaluation because the computer will hang looking for that missing Ñ,” he exhorted readers.
Another stumbling block in BM Online registration is the required “last departure/last arrival” field, which registrants often mistakenly reckon from the Hong Kong point of view so that they would type in their expected arrival date here.
“The last departure and last arrival dates are reckoned from the point of view in the Philippines, so last departure date is the last time you flew out of the Philippines, while last arrival date is the travel date you are leaving for the Philippines,” Labatt Dela Torre said.
He also urged walk-in registrants to wait to be served after 4pm any day, as the registration assistants would turn to them after they had served those with appointment dates and times.
“When you are walking in, don’t expect to be given priority over those with appointments, unless you are a senior or you’re traveling on the same or the next day,” he told his readers.
For those who dilly-dally about registering, Labatt Dela Torre has this to say: “Our BM registration services are free of charge, including tutorials and appointment setting.
“There is no need to print anything. Just come with your passports and contracts, which we only need to see, not get copies of,” he said.
“But please come, if you can, Friday and Saturday because there are no crowds. If on a Sunday please come at 3 pm to 8 pm,” he added. - Vir B. Lumicao
