Cabaero: Call for OFW programs

AN OFFICIAL of the Catholic bishops’ organization has called on presidential candidates to come up with a concrete program for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

Fr. Edwin Corros issued the call after he noted how the election candidates for the May 10 exercise have not yet presented a clear plan on how to alleviate the plight of Filipinos working abroad. Corros is the executive secretary of the Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

While his statement is addressed to those vying for the top national position in the country, such a call might as well be directed to candidates for local positions. The campaign period for the local positions will begin this Friday, March 26.

The concern for OFWs is not limited to the national government alone. Local government units (LGUs) have a more important role because OFW families are not limited to urban areas but are spread out in rural communities.

What benefits their families get from the dollars sent from abroad directly go through the local economies. Remittances have been used to pay for grocery, tuition, a new television set, a refrigerator, medical and hospital expenses, a new mobile phone. These are purchases made from the local corner store or the mall.

Corros said most aspirants to national elective positions do not show enthusiasm in ensuring the rights and welfare of the OFWs and their families. “Apparently, nothing seems shimmering in the flat form or program among most candidates,” he said.

A report on the CBCP website (http://www.cbcponline.net/) quoted Corros as saying Filipinos abroad want to know whether the President will have programs that address economic woes, particularly the lack of job opportunities in the Philippines and the complete protection of OFW rights and welfare.

There are eight million Filipinos working abroad and sending back to the Philippines an estimated US$17 billion a year.

Corros said the country’s next leaders must solve the cause of the woes that people are facing and have forced millions of Filipinos to leave their families to try their luck overseas. “We’ve been repeating the same thing from previous leaders up to the present; the challenge is still the same,” he said.

He said even former legislators who are now running for President have not initiated laws that could give genuine benefits to OFWs and their families.

With the growing number of OFW families coming from the rural areas, LGUs play a bigger role in helping these families and in making the remittances more productive and meaningful.

When the campaign period for local positions begins this Friday, one issue that candidates must have a stand on is in how the local government can address the plight of OFWs and their families.
 
(ninicab@sunstar.com.ph)