| Letter
to the Editor - February 24, 2005
Reference: Connie Bragas-Regalado, Chairperson, 259-1145
& 0927-2157392
Please
do not blame Tarongoy and OFWs for the dire straits they are in
MIGRANTE (Reply to Mr. Ramon Tulfo's column On Target February 23,
2005)
While the
whole nation prays for the release of kidnapped Filipino accountant
Roberto Theodore Tarongoy in Iraq, the last thing we would want
is pointing the blame on the kidnap victim himself.
While we
respect Mr. Tulfo's view that "the Macapagal-Arroyo government
should never give in to the demands of Tarongoy's kidnappers."
Blaming the OFW for the predicament he and his family is in is the
last thing they need. In the first place, Tarongoy and all OFWs
would not go to dangerous jobs in war-torn countries if the economic
situation in the Philippines is not a picture of a desperate need
to survive.
While it
is true that Filipino workers have been warned not to accept job
offers in Iraq after the De la Cruz abduction, government has not
offered viable alternatives (such as stable and well-paying job
opportunities here in the country) to people desperately looking
for means to survive.
The only
preventive measure that the Macapagal-Arroyo administration has
done is a so-called deployment ban to Iraq. But available deployment
data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA)
alone will easily debunk Malacanang claims that there is such a
deployment ban. Before the United States-led coalition war in Iraq,
only 50 OFWs were deployed in 2002. But after the war commenced
1,490 OFWs were deployed to Iraq in 2003 for an astounding 2,880
percent increase! The figure of OFWs in Iraq has reached 6,057.
This ban is technically a government hoax.
Recruitment
officials themselves have said in various news reports hundreds
of workers enter Iraq indirectly, just like Tarongoy.
While it
may also be a valid option, though unlikely for Pres. Macapagal-Arroyo
to pressure the Saudi Arabian Trading and Construction Co. Ltd.,
(Tarongoy's employer), to pay the kidnapper's ransom demand, Mr.
Tulfo needs to realize that it is the moral and prime responsibility
of the Philippine government to help and protect Filipino citizens
where ever they may be.
Yes, we
agree with Mr. Tulfo Tarongoy's recruitment agency JS Contractor
Inc. and the People's General Insurance Corp. can be blamed and
prosecuted for Tarongoy's deployment in defiance of the so-called
government deployment ban to Iraq.
But the
biggest fault lies with the Philippine government. Top labor and
foreign affairs officials in charge of the deployment, manpower
pooling and ongoing recruitment of additional OFWs for Iraq recruitment
agencies licensed by the Macapagal-Arroyo administration. Government
is responsible to each and every Filipino deployed via regular and
irregular procedures. Aside from punishing recruitment agencies
that defy the so-called deployment ban, top government labor officials
must also be meted the appropriate penalties, including administrative
and criminal charges.
If the authorities
will not take the best option to create of stable, commensurate,
decent and well-paying jobs in the country instead of deploying
workers to war-torn countries like Iraq, monumental blame for the
fate of Tarongoy and all distressed OFWs will always be on the shoulders
of government itself. #
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