The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said it is considering the recommendation to postpone to February 2012 the implementation of the deployment ban on overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to 41 countries.

POEA administrator Carlos Cao Jr. on Tuesday said the POEA governing board (GB) is “looking into the letter of request from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for a 90-day deferment on the ban.”

The letter, received by the POEA on November 3, is still being deliberated on.

“We are open to such recommendations…we will be considering this during ongoing governing board meeting on the matter, which we will conclude as soon as possible,” Cao said.

The ban is set to be effective on November 18 to the following countries: Afghanistan, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Cambodia, Cayman Islands, Chad, Croatia, Cuba, North Korea, Dominica, Timor Leste, Eritrea, Haiti, India, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, and Mali.

Also on the list are Mauritania, Montenegro, Mozambique, Nauru, Nepal, Niger, Pakistan, Palestine, Serbia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sudan, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Tonga, Turks and Caicos, Tuvalu, US Virgin Islands, Vanuatu, and Zimbabwe.

Once the ban is implemented, it would immediately affect 266 new hired workers, the POEA said.