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Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Oledan: Death row
By Radzini Oledan
Slice of Life
* 'OFWs brave the risks abroad and ignore the concomitant social cost of overseas employment due to the more pressing need of their families to put food on the table, send their children to schools and in some instances, attend to sick family members.'
IT TOOK Migrante Sectoral Party to point out the actual condition of an estimated 5,168 overseas Filipino workers who are languishing in jails, 12 of whom are in death row for various offenses ranging from contract violation to murder.
More than the statistics are lives of people who took the risk of working in a foreign land just to provide a better life for their families that is getting doubly difficult to do here at home.
The cases in at least 56 countries require the immediate and not lethargic intervention of those being paid by the public to look after the welfare of the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs).
Of the total number, a total of 1,115 have not been extended assistance by Philippine officials abroad.
Not a surprising fact especially if we consider the stories of OFWs who are in distressful situations and are almost always unable to get appropriate assistance.
We hear cases of OFWs, mostly women, who are turned down by our labor representatives abroad or of cases waiting to be acted upon for months and years on end.
For these calloused officials, the welfare of these women and men working in a foreign land does not matter. It is enough that they are able to receive their monthly salary, and enjoy the perks accompanying their job--all, in the guise of ably assisting our OFWs.
It is revolting but the fact is they are paid for their inefficiency. In whatever way, these OFWs will remain mere statistics and their cases continually unacted upon unless of course, if they are able to get media mileage which will force officials to act on their situation.
They are the same OFWs whose income keeps our economy afloat. These are the women and men who support their families by cleaning houses, performing in nightclubs, or caring for children, the sick, or elderly in overseas countries.
They are scattered in 181 countries, the most popular spots of which are in Asia like Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan and Europe--Britain, Spain and Italy.
Around 60 percent of those who work overseas are women, according to the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA).
The seemingly personal choice of these OFWs to turn to overseas job is borne by the lack of opportunities in the home front.
Braving the risk and the painful separation from their family here, they opt to find work abroad for the very basic motivation of survival.
However, this will not hide the responsibility that the government should take in ensuring their welfare and of responding to whatever difficult situations they are confronted abroad.
After all, government itself fully promotes the exportation of our laborers when it adopted labor migration as a 'temporary measure' to respond to the increasing unemployment at home.
Overseas work has become an essential part of the economy. Today, between 22 to 35 million Filipinos or 34 to 53 percent of total population--are directly dependent on remittance from migrant workers.
The distressing fact is that the risk of working abroad outweighs the risk of just staying home. Some 700 workers, mostly women, die each year due to maltreatment by their employers. The figure could be higher considering the countless unreported cases.
Most cases of death and abuse against female overseas workers occur in Arab countries. However, due to abject poverty and want in our country their harrowing experience fails to dampen the desire of these women to seek employment abroad.
In a recent survey of McCann-Erickson, it was found that six out of 10 adults prefer working abroad where competition is fierce.
OFWs brave the risks abroad and ignore the concomitant social cost of overseas employment due to the more pressing need of their families to put food on the table, send their children to schools and in some instances, attend to sick family members.
Suffering greatly from homesickness, OFWs try to over-perform to help not only their families but also the country with their remittances.
They slave it out in a foreign country only to get cold treatment from our officials when needing matter-of-life-and-death assistance.
They are the same officials who are paid from the pockets of the poor people for their inefficiency.
They are the ones who should be in the death row.
(June 8, 2005 issue)
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