Letter to the Editor - February 19, 2005
References: Connie Bragas-Regalado, Chairperson, 259-1145 & 0927-2157392

OFWs, families agree with Manila Archbishop Rosales

We firmly agree with Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales on his views that many Filipinos seek employment abroad and have to endure painful separation from their families.

Contrary to the declarations and refutations of Malacanang, overseas Filipino workers and their families back up Archbishop Rosales' statements that it is government's responsibility to provide enough decent jobs for Filipinos here in the Philippines. Indeed, government has miserably failed to address its obligation to generate decent, stable and well-paying jobs for the people here in the country.

Government is not telling the truth on its job generation spiels and statistics. Philippine government labor officials like Patricia Sto. Tomas and Manuel Imson painfully try to discredit Archbishop Rosales with deceptive data and even outright lies; including the 1.2 million local employment opportunities apart from 933,588 Filipinos that found work overseas in 2004.

A burgeoning number of highly-skilled Filipinos leave the country due to the low wages and the Macapagal-Arroyo government's inclination to favor anti-worker conditions of employers locally. Who can be happy with low wages, high prices and a government labor officials that churn out lies? Besides, at least the DOLE tries to gloss over its own data that show 10.9% (3.9 million) of the labor force have no jobs while 5.4 million are under-employed.

What is government doing with the crises being faced by Filipinos in Japan and Malaysia? For those entertainers who face deportation under Japan's new immigration laws, the Philippine government has no plan to create decent job opportunities in the country for those who will be diplaced.

In the case of the imminent crackdown targetting 500,000 undocumented Filipinos in Malaysia, the government gives out free passports and encourages those who get deported to go back to Malaysia. Nothing is offered to the deportees who need medicines, food and fares to get back to their hometowns in Tawi-Tawi, Sulu, Basilan, Lanao, Zamboanga and various points in the country. No decent jobs in the country are offered to the deportees either.

A big problem of the Macapagal-Arroyo government is it's habit of cloaking the long-standing joblessness with manufactured statistics and bogus claims. What types of jobs did it generate in the first place? Most if not all are low-end contractual jobs in services like retail sales, restaurants and call centers. The daily cost of living for a family of six in the Philippines has already reached P492.19 as of December 2004; while the average minimum daily wage is only P300. Also, most employers do not follow government laws on wages and are even given exemptions by the DOLE itself.

This is why many Filipinos are forced to take even dirty, difficult and demeaning (3-D) jobs in the entertainment joints, factory sweatshops and hospitals overseas . This is why we fully agree with Archbishop Rosales' views on the problems of joblessness, forced migration and the resultant social costs that include family separation.

Many Filipinas who are forced to work as domestic helpers, entertainers, waitresses and sweatshop workers end up being victimized by illegal recruiters, abusive employers and human traffickers in Japan, Malaysia, Korea, Ivory Coast, Saipan and many other nations. These are what the likes of Sto. Tomas, Imson and Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo take pains to hide from the Church and the public. #