Seven years after Flor…
Conditions of Overseas Filipino Workers Worsen
by Hetty C. Alcuitas for IBON Foundation
Inc.
Seven years ago, the nation and international community was gripped
by the unjust imprisonment and hanging of Filipina maid Flor Contemplacion
in Singapore. Her case was seen as typical of the abuse and neglect
that the estimated seven to eight million overseas Filipino workers
(OFWs) face on a daily basis.
Despite efforts to stop her execution, Contemplacion was hung by
Singaporean authorities on March 15, 1995.
Seven years later, her eldest daughter, Russel Contemplacion addressed
a small crowd gathered at a restaurant in Quezon City last week at
a forum sponsored by Migrante-International, an alliance of organizations
and advocates for the rights and welfare of Filipino migrant workers,
to commemorate Flor Contemplacion's seventh death anniversary.
"Nagpapasalamat ako dahil sa nagdaang pitong taong pagkamatay
ni Flor
Contemplacion, naririto pa rin po kayo at buo ang suporta sa aking
pamilya at gayundin sa iba pang OFWs na naging biktima ng karahasan
sa loob at labas ng bansa," said Russel. (I want to thank you
for all the support you have given my family and other OFW victims
of violence in the last seven years.)
The forum, "Remembering Flor: Contemplating the Passion and
Struggles
of Filipino Migrant Workers,"sought to draw out the current conditions
of Filipino migrant workers under three presidencies, including the
current Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration.
Since 1995, what has concretely changed for the conditions of overseas
Filipino workers?
Exodus Continues:
An estimated 2,500 Filipinos continue to leave the country every day
to
seek employment abroad due to the continuing economic crisis in the
Philippines.
Despite a worldwide economic slump, the deployment of OFWs continues
to
rise. According to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration,
in 2000, 602,679 OFWs were deployed. In 2001, the number rose to 615,697.
The majority are landbased and deployed to countries in the Middle
East and Asia, with a significant number deployed to Europe.
According to the Philippine Association of Service Exporters, Inc.
(PASEI) which studied OFW deployment from 1999 to 2001, despite the
government's claim that "our OCWs (overseas contract workers)
like IT, medical workers and other professional high-value workers
are in demand," the majority of OFWs are still working as domestic
helpers and entertainers.
The report cited that over 50% of all deployments between 1999 and
2001
were comprised of domestic helpers and entertainers.
While the remittances of OFW's have reduced in the last few years,
they
still account for a major source of income for the Philippine government.
The Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported over $6 billion
in remittances in the year 2000 alone.
And despite the passing of the Migrant Act of 1995 under the Ramos
government, which was enacted in response to cases like Flor Contemplacion's,
OFWs continue to be victims of unjust imprisonment, mysterious deaths
and other various human rights abuses.
"If we look back over the last seven years, there has been an
increase in the number of cases of abuse of migrant workers,"
says Poe Gratela, Secretary General of Migrante-International.
Startling Statistics:
According to Migrante-International, 42 OFWs are awaiting beheading
in
the Middle East, while 36 are facing the death penality in Saudia
Arabia and six in Malaysia. Thousands of OFWs are also stranded in
Saudi Arabia, 44 domestic helpers in Hong Kong were sexually assaulted
and six OFWs arrive everyday in coffins, most of which are mysterious
death cases.
Migrante is currently campaigning for the release of three Filipino
workers currently languishing in jail in Saudi Arabia for crimes they
did not commit: Joselito Alejo, Sarah Dematera and Ramiro Esmero.
Gratela explains why despite parliamentary measures such as the Migrant
Act of 1995, human rights violations of migrant workers continue.
"This law is useless," states Gratela. "It is an inutile
law that can
never protect migrant workers while they are overseas since it bears
no wait in the host countries. While it was promoted as a way of protecting
migrant workers, it has in effect systematicized the government's
implementation of the Labour Export Policy. Since it's creation, problems
like Flor's have only increased. There are more Flor Contemplacion's,
Sarah Balabagan's and Mary Jane Ramos'," noted.
Filipino maids Sarah Balabagan and Mary Jane Ramos were both imprisoned
years apart in the United Arab Emirates for killing their employers
who tried to rape them. Their cases were taken up by Migrante-International
and its affiliated organizations who successfully campaigned for their
release.
Arroyo: "Anti-Migrant":
Gratela believes that the conditions of migrant workers will continue
to worsen under President Arroyo, whom he calls, "the most anti-migrant
of all presidents." He points to two of her publicized statements
last year as indication of bad times to come: her "stay abroad"
advice to OFWs and her coining of the term, "Overseas Filipino
Investors" or OFIs to refer to these migrant workers.
"Arroyo's 'stay abroad' policy is a reflection that she is not
supportive of the interests of migrant Filipinos," says Gratela.
"She is more interested in the OFWs foreign remittances which
the Philippine government is using to prop up the ailing economy."
Gratela also cites the over P32,000 that the average potential OFW
spends on passport, IDs, authentification and other required documentation
costs as a major source of income for the Philippine government.
As for the "OFI" term, Gratela calls it, "an insult
to migrant Filipinos."
"How can we become investors when our salaries are almost not
even
enough to meet our families' needs?" asks Gratela. "On the
other hand, it is true in some sense that we are 'investors' since
we invest our lives in our work."
"The OFI term is an attempt to hide the fact that migrant workers
are
being squeezed dry of every ounce of sweat, blood and tears, toiling
in the most dangerous, difficult and dirty jobs around the world,"
says Leo Lagaspi, chairman of Migrante-International. "This is
the latest insult to overseas Filipinos. We invest not only our remittances,
but risk life and limb for our families to survive the worsening economic
and political crises in the homeland," he adds.
Global Economic Crisis and the War on Terrorism:
Migrante also believes that the worsening global recession and the
US-led global "war on terrorism" is negatively impacting
Filipinos overseas.
Gratela points to increasly restrictive immigration policies of host
countries as a sign of the global economic recession. Gratela says
that while host countries exploit migrant labor as a source of cheap
and flexible labor in times of labor shortage, in times of economic
crisis, migrants are easily disposable and become an easy excuse for
slowdowns in the economy. This in turn leads to more incidences of
racism and discrimination.
In Asia and the Middle East, where the majority of OFWs are, the
Malaysian government recenly cracked downon illegal immigrants and
ordered a number of Filipinos deported. An AFP report cited 7,000
Filipinos were deported so far this year. In Japan, a new law effectively
categorizes undocumented workers as "criminals." And even
in North America, the Philippine Women Centre of B.C. in Canada cites
the increase in deportationsof Filipina domestic workers who arrive
under Canada's Live-In Caregiver Program (LCP.) A PWC statement this
week chided the Canadian government for seeking immigrants to boost
its population growth while deporting Filipino women, some of whom
are forced to leave their Canadian-born children behind.
"While Canada is in frantic need of more Canadian-born children
to
boost its population growth,Canadian-born children of Filipino women
are being thrown away in Canadian Immigration's practice of arbitrarily
deporting women who are not able to meet the stringent requirements
of the LCP," the statement read.
Compounding this global trend towards restrictive immigration policies,
since the September 11th terrorist attacks in the US, incidents of
racism, harassment and violence have intensified.
In Europe, the homes of Filipino migrants in Belgium were raided
after
the September attacks, and the migrants arrested and interrogated
as suspected terrorists.
In North America, along with an increase in personal racist attacks,
thousands of Filipino baggage screeners in the U.S. were laid off
last month with the passing of the US Aviation Security Law, which
restricts non-citizens from working as baggage screeners.
"This illustrates why we say the war on terrorism is increasingly
a war on migrants and immigrants," says Gratela." This law
unfairly discriminates and scapegoats immigrant workers," he
says.
"Paranoia, fear and distruct among immigrants, people of color
and
citizens is being fomented. In this light, the systemic violation
of the rights of immigrants and migrants continues unabated. This
is what President Macapagal-Arroyo supports when she fully embraces
President Bush's so-called war on terrorism," says Gratela.
Migrante also warns against an increase in the number of women and
children trafficked abroad with the increasing militarism.
Seeking solutions:
With the worsening conditions, what can Filipino migrant workers do
in
order to change their situation? Gratela believes that the solution
lies in changing the inherent system of Philippine society. "The
problem of forced migation will not end and Filipinos will continue
to leave the country unless there is a change to the very system of
Philippine society," says Gratela. "In order for there to
be jobs for everyone, we need genuine land reform and national industrialization
to meet the needs and aspirations of Filipinos and not for foreign
interests."
Gratela emphasizes the positive gains that Migrante-International
has
made in the past seven years since Flor Contemplacion's death. He
cites campaigns such as in Hong Kong where thousands of Filipina domestic
workers and advocates rallied to stop a proposed wage cut earlier
this year, as a major victory.
Gratela stresses the need to commemorate the death of Flor Contemplacion
and others like her by continuing to educate, organize and mobilize
Filipino migrants and immigrants to struggle for their rights and
welfare and for genuine change in the Philippines.
To mark the seventh year death anniversary, thousands of Filipinos
in the Philippines and abroad rallied under the Migrante-International
banner in a coordinated international day of protest against the deployment
of the U.S. troops in the Philippines.
"Historically, this is a day when we showed the world our capacity
to
mobilize and unite around an urgent issue," said Maita Santiago,
spokesperson of the Network Overseas Opposed to U.S. Troops (NO U.S.
Troops)."Then, it was for a migrant worker unjustly hung, today
it's because the integrity of our nation and the dignity of our people
are endangered," she said.
____________________________
Republished with permission from the author and IBON Foundation
Inc.
About IBON Foundation Inc.: IBON
means "bird" in Filipino. But it is popularly known for
these things, especially when it comes to socio-economic issues. IBON
is a research-education-information development institution. IBON
Foundation undertakes the study of socio-economic issues that confront
Philippine society and the world today and seeks to bring this knowledge
and information to the greatest number of our people. In this way
they will be able to effectively participate in building a self-reliant
and progressive Philippines, a nation that is sovereign and democratic.
