Some overseas Filipino worker (OFW) groups rejected the proposed Department of Overseas Filipinos (DOFIL) arguing it formalizes the country’s reliance on exporting Filipino workers for economic development.
Filipino migrant groups from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia said the creation of the OFW Department is against the campaign promise of President Rodrigo Duterte to make working overseas an option and not a necessity for economic progress
According to Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (Sentro), existing agencies for OFWs like Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) are enough to address the needs of OFWs.
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“Migration for economic reasons should only be an option, not an almost mandatory choice in order for people to enjoy security and stability,” Sentro said in a statement.
“Instead of guaranteeing living wages, secure employment, and dignified lives, our leaders have chosen to let us working people fend for ourselves. Our OFWs and other migrants have been forced to look for better lives abroad given the lack of serious effort by those in power to provide the necessary conditions for security and stability in the Philippines,” it added.
Duterte certified the bill creating the DOFIL as urgent last December 2020, which seeks to streamline the processing of OFW requirements and to protect and promote the rights of migrant Filipino workers abroad.
The bill would also cover the needs of OFWs, from training and recruitment, to the retirement of migrant workers.
But for Jasmin Ruas, director of the Domestic Caretaker Union-Taiwan, the proposed law doesn’t address the reason why OFWs seek opportunities abroad.
“Hindi ko sinusuportahan, kasi gusto kong umuwi, at gusto kong umuwi na may trabaho akong makukuha sa Pilipinas,” Ruas said.
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For his part, the International Seafarers Action Center, and Representative of the Global Council for Migrante International President Edwin Dela Cruz claimed that the DOFIL will not just institutionalize exportation of labor but will also displace government workers.
He noted that DOFIL only serves to entrench the policy of sending millions of Filipino workers abroad and do not address the need to boost capacity to properly employ Filipino workers locally.
Sentro Secretary-General Joshua Mata furthered that the creation of DOFIL does not solve anything and also cripples the country as local industries and sectors are being neglected by Filipino workers for lucrative jobs overseas.
“As we have seen for decades, the development and investment in our own industries, sectors, and professionals have been neglected in favor of sending our talented workers abroad,” he said. (RA)
