By RUBEN JEFFREY ASUNCION
OFW Journalism Consortium
IF elected, presidential candidates Gilberto Teodoro Jr., Manuel Villar and Richard Gordon would throw cash and strike deals with labor receiving countries in relation to overseas employment of Filipinos.
Former Defense Secretary Teodoro and Senator Villar, however, failed to say where they would get the money for the deals given the yawning budget deficit.
Only Senator Gordon identified sources of cash for his proposed $30 billion provident fund for overseas Filipino workers: “link up” the private pension fund manager Social Security System with the Government Service Insurance System.
He said the money will be managed by professional finance managers, but didn’t identify these managers.
The three candidates bared their platforms for overseas Filipino workers at a forum in January, weeks before the formal campaign period began.
Teodoro, Lakas-Kampi-CMD standard-bearer, said overseas migration is a “reality that we should not ignore.”
In return for “importantly contributing” to the country’s foreign exchange, stimulating domestic consumption and contributing a considerable percentage of the country’s GNP, the government should provide the OFWs with “portable social security benefits” and strengthening institutions aimed at assisting distressed OFWs, he said.
Cumulative remittances of overseas Filipinos coursed through banks were stronger than expected in 2009, growing year-on-year by 5.6 percent to $17.3 billion, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas executive Diwa C. Guinigundo said in a statement.
In 2008 figures showed that OFWs sent home P141.9 billion, three-fourths of which were through formal channels.
Teodoro said he would buffer up the coffer of the foreign affairs department to “enhance the DFA’s capability to take care of them (OFWs).”
Under the 1995 Migration Workers’ and Overseas Filipino Act or Republic Act No. 8041, the DFA is tasked with providing legal assistance and repatriating OFWs facing legal cases and other problems abroad.
Implementation of RA 8042 was allocated P230.9 million out of the DFA’s total budget of P12.6 billion last year. The department received P236.7 million for the same budget item in 2008, up from P87.7 million in 2007.
Teodoro also suggested that the government enter into bilateral agreements with Middle Eastern countries such as Syria, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia where many Filipino workers are deployed.
He said the government should emulate the Canadian model of bilateral agreements that emphasize giving equal benefits for workers from both signatory nations, avoiding workers having to pay for their overseas employment, and training the workers to be deployed to the other country.
“We should (use) the Canadian model where there are three principles: parity of labor benefits, no employment costs and an exchange leverage impact program,” he said.
Villar, Nacionalista Party presidential contender, said his OFW program would focus on providing “safety nets” for Filipino workers.
He recommended repatriating all OFWs who are stranded in other countries due to labor and judicial problems using money from a repatriation fund for their trip home.
Villar recommended that the DFA, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and the Philippines Overseas Employment Adminsitration identify “problem areas and problem professions” and come out with specific solutions.
Records from Migrante advocacy group show that as of December 2009, 300 OFWs require immediate repatriation from their host countries. The workers—said to be abused and exploited by their employers—are mostly based in the Middle East. Almost half were caregivers or domestic helpers.
Villar authored or sponsored 13 bills on OFWs in the 14th Senate. In April 2008, he filed a bill recommending the government set aside a P1 billion repatriation fund for OFWs in distress. The bill has since been substituted at the committee level along with 10 other bills.
Early in the forum, Villar said that if elected president, he would first visit Saudi Arabia, where 1.04 million OFWs are estimated to work there as of 2007. This action, he said, would show a “good message” that the government is concerned about alleviating the OFWs’ problems on protection from abuse and assistance during times of distress.
Gordon, Bagumbayan (or New Nation) Party standard bearer and former Subic Freeport administrator, also wants OFWs deployed only if their minimum montly wage in other countries is set at $400 and that migrant workers’ capabilities be uplifted.
“Migration has become an important issue and it is important that the Philippine government should adopt a very aggressive policy ensuring (that our overseas workers are well compensated financially),” he said. “They should not be seen as domestics, but as governess, tutors if you will.”
Absent during the two-hour forum were Sen. Benigno Simeon Aquino III of the Liberal Party, independent candidate Sen. Ana Maria Consuelo Madrigal, former president Joseph Estrada of the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino, evangelist Eddie Villanueva (Bangon Pilipinas) and Olongapo city councilor John Carlos Delos Reyes (Ang Kapatiran party).