New POEA guidelines on named-hire workers

The POEA MC04-2007 recently took effect.
( http://www.poea.gov.ph/mc/mc4_2007_namehire.pdf )

The main point of contention against this MC is the USD 5,000.00 repatriation bond that a prospective employer must now put up for the POEA to approve hiring and allow the worker to leave the country.

I am a named-hire (directly hired) OFW having been recommended by a former colleague to a company here in Qatar. The company got interested in my credentials and directly hired me. I went through the process in POEA including having the employer sign an undertaking regarding the repatriation of my remains and effects in case I die here.

I know that the intention of the POEA is to protect the Filipino worker and not the placement agencies (I hope) but I believe it is ridiculous to assume any employer would be willing to shell out such an amount at the onset without getting any productive output from the worker.

I think this guideline would encourage more to venture for the job market using just visit visa or business visa and run into more risk of exploitation.

What to do you think?

(BTW, take note of item VII for those who were hired after this took effect. This means once you want to process your OEC, you will be asked for the repatriation bond from your employer.)