Posted by Belarmino Dabalos Saguing
Rome, Italy 15 April 2018
Mass migration is deeply rooted in
human history. Today, Around our
world, more and more people are on the move, looking for safer and more
conducive environments in which to live and find work.
The call on the resumption of Peace Negotiations between GRP and
NDFP r4cently stopped by the GRP President, as a necessary step towards the
abating of poverty and injustices in the country, which is also the root of
armed strife in the country. We trust
the peace talks to tackle the root causes of the armed conflict, namely,
unemployment, low wages, contractualization, landlessness and poor social
services resulting in widespread poverty of the Filipino people. These are the
very same reasons for the phenomenon of forced migration, or the impetus of
millions of Filipinos to seek employment abroad.
There are currently 15 million OFWs and at least 6,000 leave the
country daily to work abroad. Filipino people are being forced to migrate and
be separated from their families because of desperation and the need to
survive. It is indeed a tragic consequence when our labor force is uprooted
from their families, forced to endure unfair labor practices and abuses, and in
some cases, suffer death, in exchange for cheap labor because of government
failure to address forced migration and stop the policy of labor export.
The struggle of OFWs and their families is not isolated from the
struggle of other marginalized and neglected sectors. The problem of forced
migration is deeply rooted in the fundamental problems of Philippine society.
Our struggle for dignity, rights and welfare, against government neglect and
against forced migration plays a very important role in the struggle for
genuine freedom and national democracy. The only solution to the problems of
the Filipino migrant sector and their families is genuine social change so that
families would not have to separated and broken apart in order to survive.
To address the problem of forced migration, the Duterte
administration’s economic policies should focus on developing national economy
by advancing local industries, agriculture and basic services. It should depart
from neoliberal policies which focus on increasing dependence on OFW
remittances, foreign investments, debt-heavy infrastructure projects.
The past four decades of Philippine labor export has showcased a
more blatant and unapologetic policy that continues to exploit OFWs’ cheap
labor and foreign remittances in accordance to neoliberal policies and
dictates. Previous administrations have been aggressive in crafting programs
and services aimed to facilitate and encourage forced migration. While
acknowledging the many social costs and human rights violations, these were
effectively downplayed by the hailing of OFW remittances. Instead, past
administrations have unfailingly and resolutely promoted labor export as
unequivocally beneficial for OFWs and their families. This is particularly done
by overstating supposed development benefits for the economy and the income benefits
for households.
Effects of the ongoing Middle East crisis on OFWs and their
families is testament to the bankruptcy of four decades of Philippine labor
export. Since 2010, thousands upon thousands of OFWs in distress have been
deported or forcibly repatriated back to the country due to civil unrests,
calamities, economic instabilities and other similar factors in
migrant-receiving countries. However, OFW deployment has picked up considerably
over the past few years despite ongoing and worsening crisis in host countries.
With the continuous repatriation of distressed OFWs from Saudi,
Kuwait, Syria and Libya, a “reverse migration” phenomenon could be expected in
the coming months. Despite and in spite of this, OFWs will not be stopped from
being forced to leave the country due to record-high unemployment rate, low
wages and the lack of a comprehensive and sustainable reintegration program for
returning OFWs. And so the cycle continues.
The economic compulsion of past Philippine governments to keep
exporting Filipinos to maintain or, especially, to increase remittances is
something that should be urgently corrected and addressed in the peace talks.
Migrante International fully supports the call and struggle for national
industrialization and genuine land reform as the ultimate solution to forced
migration and to end the labor export program.
Labor
export policy: It all begun with Marcos dictatorship.
In 1978, Marcos issued Presidential
Decree 1412 to “strengthen the network of public employment offices and
rationalize the participation of the private sector in the recruitment and
placement of workers, locally and overseas."
Four years later, he merged the three government
agencies into what is now the POEA. On Labor Day in 1982, Marcos also issued
Executive Order No. 797 that created the Welfare Fund for Overseas Workers to
provide insurance coverage, legal and placement assistance, and remittance
services, among others.
Although it is true that even
before Martial Law formalized export labor, however, migration of Filipino
laborers had begun much earlier, as early as the 1900s “when Filipino
agricultural workers were recruited to Hawaii to fill temporary labor needs in
the agricultural sector.”
Filipino laborers later moved to other parts of
the US “to work in downtown hotels and restaurants, sawmills and railroads
construction, in California’s agricultural plantations, and in Alaska’s canning
industry.
When the Second World War ended in
1945, some Filipino military servicemen became American citizens after serving
in the US Army. Many medical professionals, nurses, accountants, engineers, and
other technical workers also began migrating to the US after the war. n the
1950’s to the 60’s, non-professional contract workers went to neighboring Asian
countries as artists, barbers, and musicians in East Asia and loggers in
Kalimantan, Indonesia, however, the active and systematic migration of
Filipinos for temporary work came in the 60’s when the US government and
contractors of US military and civilian agencies recruited Filipinos to work
for construction and service-related jobs in certain areas of the Pacific and
Southeast Asia such as in Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, Wake Island, and Guam.
Later, more Filipino medical
workers, physicians, and nurses sought employment in the US, Canada, and
Australia, prompting the Philippine government to issue the new labor code in
1974 that covered Filipinos working overseas. Filipino engineers and skilled
construction workers were recruited by multinational companies with projects in
the oil-rich countries in the Middle East which experienced an economic boom at
that time. This organized system for migration of Filipino workers paved the
way for the deployment of millions of Filipinos all over the world up to the
present time.
The migrant workers advocacy group
Migrante International believes that Marcos pushed for the labor export policy
for two reasons: to quell dissent brought about by massive domestic
unemployment and the political crisis, and to consolidate foreign exchange from
remittances.
During Marcos' time, labor outmigration of
Filipinos took on a new dimension. The Marcos dictatorship made the deployment
of Filipino workers more systematic, ushering in the transformation of Filipino
cheap labor into an exportable commodity through the labor export policy,
according to Connie Bragas Regalado, then Migrante sectoral partylist chairperson. The country was in disarray both
economically and politically. The move was mainly to appease growing dissent
brought about by unemployment, landlessness and growing poverty, and to
systematize earnings from remittances.
The term OFW was adopted after the
enactment of RA 8042, also known as Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act
of 1995. Following this, the 2002 POEA Rules and Regulations Governing the
Recruitment and Employment of Land-based Overseas Workers.
In the last 30 years, a
"culture of migration" has emerged, with millions of Filipinos eager
to work abroad, despite the risks and vulnerabilities they are likely to
face.
The development of a culture of migration in the
Philippines has been greatly aided by migration's institutionalization. The
government facilitates migration, regulates the operations of the recruitment
agencies, and looks out for the rights of its migrant workers. More
importantly, the remittances workers send home have become a pillar of the
country's economy.
Women are very visible in international migration
from the Philippines. They not only compose the majority of permanent settlers,
i.e., as part of family migration, but they are as prominent as men in labor
migration. In fact, since 1992, female migrants outnumbered men among the newly
hired land-based workers who are legally deployed every year.
The majority of female OFWs are in domestic work and
entertainment. Since these are unprotected sectors, female migration has raised
many concerns about the safety and well-being of women migrants. Female OFWs
can also be found in factory work, sales, and nursing.
Migrant women face particular vulnerabilities. Aside
from the usual problems that plague migrants, their jobs in domestic work and
entertainment usually mean long working hours, surveillance and control by
employers, and abusive conditions, including violence and sexual harassment.
Given the "private" context in which they work, the problems
encountered by migrant women in these sectors go unnoticed.
In general, compared to other national groups,
Filipino workers are relatively better protected because they are more
educated, more likely to speak English, and they are better organized. NGOs for
migrants in the Philippines and their networks abroad not only provide services
and support to migrants, but, more importantly, they advocate for migrants'
rights
The development of a legal and institutional framework
to promote migrant workers' protection is also an important factor. The
Philippines was the first among the countries of origin in Asia to craft a law
that aims "to establish a higher standard of protection and promotion of
the welfare of migrant workers, their families and overseas Filipinos in
distress." Although there had been discussions about a Magna Charta for
migrant workers for some time, it was not until 1995 that the Migrant Workers
and Overseas Filipinos Act (also known as Republic Act or RA8042) was finally
passed.
The tipping point was the national furor in 1995
over the execution of Flor Contemplación, a domestic worker in Singapore, who
many Filipinos believed was innocent despite her conviction for the deaths of
her Singaporean ward and another Filipino domestic worker. This was a factor in
fast-tracking the passage of RA8042.
Many OFWs support the resumption of Peace talks with
an eye on the CASER agenda as it is hoped to bring the much needed reforms,
industrialization and modernization of agriculture that may be the answer to a
better work acquisition and improved economic conditions for the families,
thus ending the reliance on migration as means of sustaining the families.
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