BI’s last resort vs trafficking: Warn would-be illegal OFWs

September 16, 2008

BI’s last resort vs trafficking: Warn would-be illegal OFWs

By Jerome Aning
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Posted date: September 15, 2008

MANILA, Philippines—The Bureau of Immigration has set up what it calls its “last line of defense” against the trafficking of overseas Filipino workers.

Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan, in a statement, said the bureau’s agents stationed at airports and sea ports, who have little or no evidence to detain suspected “tourist-workers,” would instead brief them on the hazards faced by undocumented workers in foreign countries.

“We call them tourist-workers because they are not leaving the country for pleasure but to work without proper documents,” Libanan said.

“[Suspected illegal workers] will also be asked to sign a waiver, releasing from any responsibility the immigration officer who will process their exit papers after the briefing‚” he said, adding that illegal OFWs have “zero knowledge” of the risks involved in working in foreign countries without proper papers.

Waivers will only be required when the traveler’s purpose of travel is in doubt.

Several factors will be considered in profiling suspected “tourist-workers,” such as the absence of a hotel booking, zero funds, the lack of Philippine Overseas Employment Administration clearance and, if accompanied by a foreigner, who might be the employer.

“We are hoping the briefing-and-waiver tack will discourage tourist-workers from taking unnecessary risks overseas,” Libanan said.


SAYS DE CASTRO : Domestic helpers abroad should at least be 25 years old

September 11, 2008

Wow, look at the wanna-be President trying to simplify the issues on abused DH in Middle East.  His solution? Must be at least 25 years old.

I don’t know if De Castro is listening to OFWs plaint or he is on the side of the recruiters.

My gulay, what de Castro is saying in effect is that, it is OK to have an abused, killed or DEAD OFW in these countries, for as long as she is more than 25 years old.

The fact of the matter is that the citizens of those middle east countries are not prepared to manage foreign domestic help. And coupled with the greed of recruiters, in connivance with some DFA, POEA employees, It does not matter if the OFW is 20 or 40 or 25 years old, they will all suffer the same fate.

What the government should do is to implement a FULL BAN against the deployment of DH/HSWs to Middle East countries (KSA, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan)  and even to NMCI. These countries are dangerous for DH/HSWs, whatever the age of the OFWs.

But we already know the verdict here. The government has no guts to slap a DH ban against ME countries. The influential recruiters will not agree.

And so, let us brace ourselves. If de Castro’s suggestion (coming from the recruiters) will push through, then let us check the news what is the age of the next ‘dead’ OFW DH coming from these countries.

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SAYS DE CASTRO : Domestic helpers abroad should at least be 25 years old

By Cynthia Balana
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Posted date: September 01, 2008

MANILA, Philippines—Vice President Noli de Castro proposed on Monday to increase the minimum age VP Noli de Castrorequirement for Filipino overseas maids from 23 to 25 years old to ensure they would be mature enough for the rigors of their jobs.

De Castro, who is presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), made the counter- proposal after he was informed that the Department of Foreign Affairs wanted to raise it to 30 years old in a proposal submitted to the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) Governing Board for approval.

The Vice President said that around 48,000 to 50,000 domestic helpers have been deployed abroad by the government under the present age requirement of 23 and raising that to 30 years old would displace many workers already abroad.

He also noted that most members of the household service staff abroad were below 29 years old.

“I think 25 is better than 30 years old since people at this age are already mature,” De Castro told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in an interview.

He said the government should instead strictly screen applicants, particularly those coming from Mindanao who have no birth certificates.

According to De Castro, some of the victims of abuse abroad faked their ages on their birth certificates to meet the age requirement of 23 years and above.

DFA Spokesperson Claro Cristobal, asked to explain the DFA recommendation, said “Because we see the situation on the ground.”

Cristobal added : “The proposal is very important because at age 30, they are already mature and are able to exercise better judgment.”

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Esteban Conejos Jr. first made the proposal to increase the age requirement to 30 years old at an inter-agency meeting chaired by Labor Secretary Marianito Roque last week.
DFA USec Esteban Conejos
Conejos said raising the minimum age requirement would ensure that aspiring Filipino domestic helpers “are emotionally and mentally prepared to face the challenges posed by employment abroad.”

The Department of Labor and Employment was said to be considering Conejos’ proposal, said a DFA statement.

In a related development, De Castro is endorsing Stress Management Training for OFWs to enable them to better cope with the hardships of working abroad.

De Castro’s endorsement for the training came following a proposal of the DFA to require mandatory psychological test for workers seeking employment abroad.

“Workers applying for work abroad should first gain skills and learn techniques on stress management considering the peculiar socio-cultural setting in the country they will be working in,” De Castro said.

He said the program should be given for free and incorporated in the Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar (PDOS) and any expense should be shouldered by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA). He stressed that no additional economic burden would be imposed on OFWs.

De Castro further proposed that the coverage be limited to those domestic helpers and caregivers whose workplaces would be in households.

“Because unlike those working in medical centers, domestic helpers and caregivers employed in residences are often alone in handling difficult situation,” he said.

De Castro noted that the present psychological test required of OFWs would not be a sufficient measure to guard against untoward incidents.

In cases like those of Marilou Ranario whose defense in a murder case was to plead insanity, severe work conditions and maltreatment inevitably placed OFWs in situations that provoked them to commit even criminal acts.

“When they leave the country, they are psychologically and mentally healthy. However, stress brought about by maltreatment in the work place subsequently affects their mental condition,” De Castro said.

“Stress is a common thing in life but there are ways of coping with adversity that will help our workers handle problems with employers and adjust to different situations that they may encounter abroad,” he added.

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from MIGRANTE:
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30-year-old cap will not address plight of OFWs

09/10/2008 | 07:27 PM

MANILA, Philippines – Three migrant advocacy groups on Wednesday were one in saying that raising the minimum age requirement for domestics won’t solve the worsening problem of exploitation being suffered by overseas Filipino workers (OFW).

The three groups — Migrante, the Initiatives for Dialogue and Empowerment Through Alternative Legal Services (IDEALS), and the Kapisan ng mga Kamag-anak ng Migranteng Manggagawang Pilipino (KAKAMMPI) — said the problem lies not with the age of OFWs but with the Arroyo administration’ s neglect of migrant workers.

Labor undersecretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the Department of Foreign Affairs had asked the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration’s governing board to increase the age limit for overseas household service workers from 23 to 30 due to the increasing cases of suicides and runaways.

sarah balabagan

sarah balabagan

“Kahit 30, 40, or 50 pa ‘yan hindi naman nirerespeto ang edad do’n. Ang dapat gawin ng gobyerno, asikasuhin ang support mechanisms sa receiving countries.

(Abusers and exploiters do not respect the age of OFWs even if they are 30, 40, or 50. What the government has to do is to ensure support mechanisms for OFWs in the receiving countries),” said Migrante chairperson Concepcion Bragas-Regalado.

Regalado said that in Bahrain , the minimum age requirement for OFWs was raised but that did not prevent employers from abusing Filipinos.

“It doesn’t matter that they’re matured already. Sa cases nga naming may 30, 40 or nasa retirement age na pero naa-abuse pa rin. It’s time for the government to look at bilateral agreements with receiving countries. Nagde-deploy pa sila sa mga may gyera tapos nag-i-impose lang ng ban kapag may pumuna

(It doesn’t matter that they are matured already. We have cases wherein OFWs already in their 30s, 40s, or retirement age who are still being abused. It’s time for the government to look at bilateral agreements with receiving countries. The government even deploys OFWs to war-torn areas and only impose a ban if it is already being criticized)”, added Regalado.

Ultimate solution

Lawyer Bernard Gregorio of the IDEALS echoed Migrante’s position.

It’s good for the CBCP (Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines ) to make efforts to protect OFWs by setting a standard age. But age doesn’t matter in migration. Mas maganda kung ang tingnan ay ang policies in deploying OFWs, (It would be better if the government reviews policies in deploying OFWs),” he said.

Gregorio was referring to a statement issued by CBCP’s Episcopal Commission on Migrants and Itinerants on Wednesday supporting the proposed re-imposition of higher age limits for OFWs.

For Gregorio, the ultimate solution is for the Arroyo administration to create decent jobs for Filipinos so they will no longer be enticed to work abroad. “The government should create jobs in the country para hindi na lumabas ng bansa ang mga tao.”

For her part, Fe Nicodemus, KAKAMMPI executive director, said that changing the age of OFWs won’t change their plight. “Ganun pa rin ‘yon, third class citizen ka pa rin sa abroad, maaabuso ka pa rin (It’s still the same, you will still be a third class citizen abroad, you will still be abused).”

Institutionalizatio n

The Arroyo administration is being criticized by several cause-oriented groups in the Philippines for allegedly institutionalizing labor migration as a solution to the economic crisis being faced by the country.

The groups claim that while Filipinos are enduring hardships and risking their lives working abroad, the Philippine government is enjoying a big chunk of the money being sent home by OFWs.

As of 2007, the stock estimate of Filipinos overseas was 8.2 million. The Philippines is the world’s number one sender of Filipino workers abroad.

The government charges a 0.15-percent documentary stamp tax for every OFW remittance transaction. Groups such as Migrante claim that for every US$1-billion remittance, the government reaps US$1.5 million or about P62 million.

Migrante also claims that banks and other private businesses rake in profits from remittances. For every US$200 remittance sent monthly, US$15 to US$22 is charged as service fee. For 10 million OFWs sending remittances, banks earn a staggering $1 billion monthly.

A recent study by the National Statistics Office showed that thousands of unskilled OFWs such as domestic helpers and construction workers were among the biggest contributors to the Philippine economy.

Money sent home last year by Filipinos working abroad was nearly one-fifth more than the official figures reported by the government, according to a study by a London-based organization.

Instead of receiving US$14.45 billion, the Philippines actually got some US$17 billion in remittances last year, the research unit of the London-based Economist Magazine said in its July 2008 report. – Kimberly Jane T. Tan, GMANews.TV


Crisis stretching OFW ability to send money

September 2, 2008

By Jeremaiah M. Opiniano
INQUIRER.net

Posted date: September 01, 2008

MANILA–A US-generated financial crisis is testing overseas Filipino workers’ ability to send cash home, an economist said, using government data on remittances.

“If OFWs persist in sending more money, it will not be physically sustainable for them,” Alvin Ang told the OFW Journalism Consortium before monetary authorities reported on August 15 that OFWs sent home a record $1.5 billion in June.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas linked the 30-percent year-on-year remittance growth rate to an increase in the number of Filipinos who left for work abroad from January to June this year. Government recorded over 600,000 Filipino workers who left the country using official channels in the first six months of the year.

While acknowledging the increasing rate of remittance from these Filipinos, Ang warns that remittance flows especially from the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are entering a “plateau.” Using year-on-year totals of cash remittances formally sent over a six-month period ending May, Ang defined that plateau as a growth rate of remittances at three percent and below.

As an example, he cited remittances from OFWs in the US growing less than one percent (0.66) to $2.462 billion in the first six months ending May as against the same six-month period, $2.446 billion, in 2007.

He also noted the 1.12 percent growth rate of OFW remittances from Saudi Arabia in the five-month period ending May this year, totaling $528.013 million, compared to $522.156 million in the first five months of 2007.

These remittances from major host countries still grew, Ang said, but they were “not significant increases.”

Borderline

Even the total monthly remittances are either touching plateau levels or experiencing negative growth rates, Ang said.

The country received $1.396 billion in December 2007 but the January remittance declined by 9.52 percent to $1.264 billion and $1.258 billion in February 2008.

Declining rates may be due to several factors, among them US inflation and higher oil and commodities prices, said Ang, but their effects on remittances are not immediate, “Give it one to one-and-a-half years before we really feel the full effect.”

He also noted that OFW remittances from countries other than the US and Saudi Arabia have been contributing more to growth rates and helping arrest the decline in cash flow.

OFWs in Singapore, for example, sent home $0.175 billion during the first five months, or an 81.98-percent growth from $95.985 million in the same period last year.

Filipinos in Canada sent $0.46 billion during the first six months, achieving a year-on-year 70.65-percent growth rate.

Filipinos in Europe also saw their year-on-year five-month remittance volumes grow – like Italy at 22.11 percent, Germany at 27.22 percent, and the United Kingdom at 19.01 percent.

Returns

Ang’s prognosis on the Philippines’s plateau-level remittance growth rates recalls a basic economic concept: the law of diminishing returns. There will come a time when remittances from OFWs, whether it’s the overall total or the per-continent or per-country totals, “will go down somewhere,” he said.

Given the weakening dollar, World Bank economists Dilip Ratha and Sanket Mohapatra have also observed in Remittances Dispatch that rising inflation rate and oil and commodities prices have “further (eroded) the purchasing power of remittances” to Mexico, India and the Philippines.

In particular, they noted that while Philippine remittances increased by nearly 50 percent between 2004 and 2007, “[a] large part of this increase has been simply to preserve the purchasing power of recipients since the Philippine peso appreciated by 33 percent against the US dollar.”

OFW remittance to the Philippines hit roughly $14.5 billion last year. It was at $8.5 billion in 2004.
But after accounting for the peso’s appreciation and domestic inflation, Philippine remittances increased by only three percent in the three years beginning 2004, write Ratha and Mohaptra.

In comparison, India’s and Mexico’s remittance growth rates after accounting for inflation were 13 and 19 percent, respectively.

While the effects of the world price adjustments are yet to sink in, Ang expects Filipinos in many countries to be sending home lower amounts of money.

OFW Journalism Consortium

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/news/view/20080901-158065/Crisis-stretching-OFW-ability-to-send-money