Tuesday, August 05, 2008 Malilong: ‘Worsening’ condition By Frank Malilong The Other Side
THE brief piece on the plight of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) that I wrote here last week drew a poignant reply from one of them. Esteban Jorolan wrote almost entirely in Cebuano and I’d like to quote portions of his letter in the original language in order to capture its essence:
“Adunay giswerte sa mga nanarbaho sa gawas pero ang kadaghanan pait kaayo. Kadtong gi-hire tungod kay naay diploma sama sa mga nurses ug United Nations (UN) personnel maoy ma-tawag ug swerte kay taas ang ilang sweldo.
“Ang mga pulis nga moadto sa Haiti ubos sa UN suwerte kaayo kay gawas nga taas ang ilang sweldo, tax-free pa. Diri sa Geneva ang tawag ana nila taga laing planeta. Pero pila ra man na sila ug kadaghanan nila mga bata-bata man ug pulitiko.
Kasagaran sa atong mga OFW wala moagi ug government intervention aron makapanarbaho. Ila ra gyod nang paningkamot.
Ug gamay ang ilang suweldo kay ang nang-recruit Pilipino ra man sab. Double-kill ang nahimo sa recruiters, kay gawas nga bayaran sila sa employer, mokolekta pa gyud sila sa mga aplikante kinsa pabayaron pa gyod ug para sa Xerox sa mga papeles.
“Kaniadto aron makagawas lang paubsan pa ang among qualifications para lang mohaum sa vacancy. Sakit kaayo uy. Ang among suweldo magkagamay kada human sa among contract kay ang Pinoy sa recruitment agency mo-ingon man nga anaay mga aplikante nga andam modawat ug ubos aron makapuli sa among puwesto.
“Natural, mosugot na lang mi aron makabawi sa gasto ug makabayad sa utang. Ang Pinoy sa opisina maoy makasapi pinaagi sa commission.
“Sigi lang ug panghambog ang atong pamunoan sa dollar remittances gikan kanamo. Wala nila isulti nga luha ug dugo maoy among puhonan.”
Exploitation by recruitment agencies was also the subject of another letter from a reader who identified herself only as Marian. It was addressed to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration from whom she earlier inquired as to how much a recruitment agency may charge as placement fees.
Your reply came too late, Marian told the POEA. “We already paid the equivalent of two months pay as placement fee.”
She urged the government that for the protection of OFWs, employment agencies should be compelled to disclose in their advertisements not only the amount of the placement fees but also the salary that a position offers. She also said that these agencies should be required to issue an official receipt for every centavo that they collect from an applicant. To that I would like to add that the official receipts should be registered with the POEA whose duty it will be to monitor and examine them.
They’re not too much to give to a hero, aren’t they?
