Press Statement - March 17, 2005
References: Connie Bragas-Regalado, Chairperson, 259-1145 & 0927-2157392

On 10th anniversary of Flor Contemplacion's unjust death
The Macapagal-Arroyo administration as scourge to OFWs and the people

Ten years after the unjust hanging of Flor Contemplacion in Singapore, the plight of overseas Filipino workers and the Filipino people is much worse under the most anti-OFW president the country has ever had.

Every hour, around 100 Filipino workers are forced to work overseas, more than 60 of them being women.

In 2004, there were 894,661 Filipino workers exported largely into jobs that are dirty, difficult and dangerous. Thus, overseas Filipino workers are inherently vulnerable to a range of abuses. At the same time, they remitted a record high of almost US$1 million per hour or US$8.54 billion for 2004. Government always boasts of these deployment and remittance figures, which are up from the previous year's records of 864,969 deployed and US$7.6 billion in remittances.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has consistently consented to the human rights violations being committed by foreign employers, recruitment agencies and governments towards our compatriots abroad.

In the current "anti-terror" context of many host countries, it is also apparent that among the hardest hit by the tighter "immigration," "public and homeland security" laws and crackdowns against undocumented workers are Filipinos in the United States, Italy, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, United Arab Emirates and elsewhere.

This government agrees with foreign countries like Saudi Arabia, Israel, Taiwan and Hong Kong to reduce wages, benefits and rest days for our OFWs. It does not criticize Canada's Live-in Caregiver Program, Hong Kong's two-week rule, Taiwan's forced savings and brokerage fees, the trainee system of Japan and Korea, the Saudi Arabia Unified Contract.

The Department of Foreign Affairs reports that there are 5,168 OFWs languishing behind bars, including 673 women and 50 minors, worldwide. On death row are at least 5 Filipinos in Malaysia, one in the US and 13 in Saudi Arabia. Robert Tarongoy remains a captive in war-torn Iraq. Four have been beheaded recently in the Saudi Arabian city of Taif. And what they all got from Malacanang were crocodile tears.

Pres. Macapagal-Arroyo's policy towards OFWs in distress is one of neglect, stealing millions of their welfare funds, and devil-may-care support and accession to foreign government's policies and the United States's detrimental war designs. All of these are to the detriment of overseas Filipinos, their distressed families and the people in the homeland.

Ten years after Flor Contemplacion and the continuing export of thousands of our people daily, there seems to be no hope in sight.

It is high time to widen the efforts, heighten our struggles and hit back at the very government that makes our lives more miserable by the day.

We must give back to Pres. Arroyo all the sufferings and hardships she has heaped on us as a people. #