THE fact-finding mission of three legislators and a lawyer to the Middle East revealed that more than a hundred overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) serving as domestic helpers are stuck in shelter houses in five countries and cannot go home.

As of November 2009, some 8,000 OFWs have been repatriated, while 400 still remain, most of whom, have problems with documentations due to illegal entry.

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Representatives Luz Ilagan (Gabriela), Carlos Padilla (Nueva Vizcaya), and Rufus Rodriguez (Cagayan De Oro) came up with a consensus recommendation that will be attached to the report still being collated for a total deployment ban especially in the Middle East.

In the five countries such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Jordan, Riyadh, and Jedah, the fact-finding team found out during their week-long trip last November 2 to November 8 that in order to have an OFW deported, he or she must have an exit visa, which requires the signature of the employer.

Cases of runaway OFWs due to maltreatment are very rampant in those five countries, according to Ilagan. “Many of them don't even know the names of their employers or their addresses, making the authorities have a hard time to bring them home.”

Ilagan said the lack of bilateral agreements between the Philippines and countries where our OFWs are deployed make it hard for those who have experienced maltreatment to go back home.

“We have our laws here and they have their laws there. If they are in another country, then the laws in that country will be followed,” Ilagan said.

For his part, Padilla said remittances will not be affected even with the total deployment ban because the domestic helpers don't receive their full salaries anyway.

“Some of them don't receive their salaries for almost a year. In some cases, they receive their salary after 8 months. But the employers will tell them that they need to deduct this for the broken plates, broken vacuums. In the end, they only receive one month of their salary,” Ilagan said.

Ilagan said recommendations also include the need for a bilateral agreement under which the employer will also be liable for employing an illegal immigrant.

The bilateral agreement should also include a provision for the OFW's to be allowed to go to the Philippine embassy without a companion in case of maltreatment, Padilla said.

The recommendation poses the challenge of the Philippine Overseas Employment Association and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration to crack down illegal recruiters.

Padilla said they were able to interview more than 400 domestic helpers who admitted that almost all of them have experienced physical abuse and delayed salary.

“One of the common questions we asked the OFWs during the interview: 'Would you recommend that the government deploys people like you?' One hundred percent answered that the government shouldn't anymore. We are seriously taking note of that strong recommendation of our kababayan Filipinas themselves,” Padilla said. (Angela Casauay/Sunnex)