CEDAW/C/PHI/5-6 attracted by the higher compensation of night shift. Their lack of concern seems to be borne out by a study that noted marginal changes in vital signs (heart rate, heart rate variability, body temperature) that suggest tolerance to night work. However, the study cautioned that physical activity, stress and sleep deprivation could cause some changes in the results (OSHC 2001b). d. Exposure to pesticides in plantation work. In the agriculture sector, plantation workers have long been exposed to chemicals that were sometimes handled without proper protective gear. In 1995, about 3,000 to 5,000 workers were reportedly affected by pesticide poisoning in plantations in Mindanao. A class suit was filed against the erring agribusiness firms. The latter opted for out-of-court settlement.18 353. A more endemic issue of women’s safety in the workplace, sexual harassment has been widely noted that it spurred women’s groups to lobby for the passage of the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act (RA 7877) in 1995. Preventive measures as well as procedures for grievance and complaints were laid down. Since then, victims, mainly women, were encouraged to file complaints. In the civil service, 38 cases were filed with the Office of Legal Affairs of the Civil Service Commission. These resulted in the dismissal of 15 respondents from the service and the suspension of 7 perpetrators for 3 to 12 months. In the private sector, reports have also begun to come in. Specific groups of women workers Overseas women workers 354. The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) claims that as of December 2001, a total 7.4 million Filipinos were overseas: 3.1 million as migrant workers, 2.7 million permanent residents, and 1.6 million irregular aliens. Some 1.6 million had been deployed as new hires from 1995 to 2001. A majority (63 percent) of these were women, of whom 45 percent were in domestic service and 33 percent were professionals, mostly as entertainers bound for Japan. A number went to Taiwan and Korea as factory workers. The main destinations of female domestic workers were Hong Kong (46 percent), the Middle East (38 percent), and Malaysia, Singapore and other countries (16 percent). In contrast, most of the men (67 percent) were deployed as production workers. All of the sea-based overseas Filipino workers (OFW), who accounted for 32 percent of all OFW in 2001, were male. 355. Large numbers of Filipinos overseas are undocumented migrants. The Japanese government believes that because of visa restrictions and lack of employment opportunities for skilled workers in the Philippines, half of the more than 40,000 Filipino workers who entered their country in 1998 were undocumented. Two thirds (63.8 percent) of these were women who risk abuse and exploitation (Sinag 1999). In Singapore, the Philippine Labor Attaché claims that around 70 percent of the 80,000 Filipina domestic workers there entered as tourists or were recruited by non-accredited employers. This meant that the Philippine government had not reviewed their employment contracts. 18Example provided by Jurgette Honculada of the NFL and NCRFW during the 26 February 2002 national workshop of the joint regional technical assistance of the Asian Development Bank and the ILO (Illo 2002b). 98