DAVAO CITY, February 26, 2009—There is nothing new as to the plight of the labor force in the country inspite of government’s promise to uplift the living conditions of the Filipino.
The Center for Overseas Workers (COW) of the Religious of the Good Shepherd shared this view even as they pointed out the soaring rate of unemployment, skyrocketing prices of prime commodities along with the country’s political instability.
Sr. Diane Cabasagan, RGS of COW said that because the country’s economic and political situation is bleak, millions of Filipinos have searched for jobs abroad with the hope of improving the family’s financial situation.
“But, if we look at it there is no difference. The unemployment rate in our country is at its all-time high. The 4.1 million unemployed Filipinos will soon be joined by the fresh graduates of 2008 and everyday more than 3,000 Filipinos leave to work abroad,” she said.
Cabasagan added that the economic and political conditions of the country have enticed Filipinos to migrate even unmindful of the fact that most of them will end up in “3D” jobs or (dirty, difficult and dangerous).
She also said that many Filipinos are willing to fill in the “care deficit” or the demand for care-oriented services, which developed countries are experiencing. “Filipinos willingly supply the labor needs for these demands. Majority then are into dirty, difficult, and dangerous jobs as laborers, entertainers, domestic helpers, and care givers.”
Despite these, the government emphasizes the economic gains of labor migration through the creation of programs, such as the TESDA training for ‘Supermaids,” in order to institutionalize and intensify export of Filipino overseas workers.
“In fact, its labor-export is an explicit government policy. In the 2008 State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Gloria Macapagal–Arroyo proudly announced plans of deploying a target of 2 million Filipinos overseas,” she said, adding:
“The dollar remittances of overseas workers are temporarily cushioning the country from an immediate financial turmoil. No wonder they have been named as the country’s “Bagong Bayani” for they become the government’s sacrificial lambs.”
Meanwhile, in an official statement made by COW, they also criticized the government for making the OFWs responsible to solve the country’s economic crisis rather than creating jobs in the homeland.
“The claimed economic gains of overseas employment ignore the abuses experienced by OFWs, including the social costs of labor migration. The majority of OFWs are suffering from human rights violation like non-payment of salaries, lack of benefits, mental and physical abuse, and crimes,” read the statement.
“Many are victims of illegal recruitment and trafficking; they are unjustly imprisoned, and a number of them die abroad and sent home in caskets. OFW families oftentimes experience strains on family relations; they suffer from broken families and children are most adversely affected,” the statement said, adding:
“These are the grim realities of overseas employment. Unfortunately, policies and programs to address these problems are wanting.”
NATIONAL MIGRANT SUNDAY
The Catholic Church in the Philippines will celebrate the National Migrant on Sunday, the first Sunday of Lent to commemorate the gains and pains of Filipino overseas workers.
The Good Shepherd Sisters’ response to this situation is through their ministry to the overseas workers, which concern is to promote the rights and welfare of the OFWs effectively and meaningfully.
COW conducts education and awareness-raising activities, advocates to expose and grave social costs of government’s labor-export program and its adverse effects on migrants and the Filipino people.
COW also organizes overseas workers and their families, and provides them services through counseling, medical, and legal assistance.
“In commemoration of the Migrant Sunday, together let us build a society where families are no longer torn apart because of the need to survive, and work for a society where labor migration is an option rather than the be-all and end-all of survival,” the statement ended. (Mark S. Ventura)
