DAVAO CITY – Overseas Filipino Workers rights group Migrante International launched “Tanggol Migrante,” a program that aims to provide assistance to OFWs and their families by creating local chapters that will provide paralegal, medical and psychological aid, among others.
In a press conference yesterday, Connie Bragas-Regalado chairperson of Migrante, stressed the need for such a program by citing the case of Mary Jane Veloso, whose case was brought to the limelight weeks before execution.
The Philippine government took notice of her case on December 2010, and hired a Malaysian lawyer February of 2011 to file an appeal for Veloso.
Veloso was already sentenced with death penalty as early as October 2010. Lack of timely government assistance during the initial trials was blamed for Veloso’s case.
Veloso was granted an 11th hour reprieve from the Indonesian death row after appeals from human rights groups and the surrender of Kristina Sergio, alleged recruiter that duped Veloso into bringing a suitcase that contained 2.6 kilograms of heroin in Indonesia.
Regalado said that for as long as the country has no national industry that will create more jobs with decent wages, cases of human and drug trafficking, such as the case of Mary Jane Veloso will continue to increase.
The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration currently has 2.2 million active members, 64,000 of which are in Davao Region alone as of 2014.
Regalado put particular stress in the plight of migrant workers in Mindanao, whose proximity to its ASEAN neighbors particularly makes it an easy entry and exit point for undocumented workers.
According to POEA, at least 4,500 Filipinos leave the country every day, but that does not count those who leave undocumented.
“Trafficking is particularly easy here, because exit and entry can be made backdoor. When you say backdoor, of course you have no proper documents, which makes it easier for the government to say that they cannot help. But according to the Magna Carta of Migrant Workers, there should be no categorization. All migrant workers should be provided with assistance and protection by OWWA,” she added.
Regalado also stressed that the ongoing Filipino diaspora is a result of “forced migration” due to joblessness in the country.
“Did our government create jobs? Yes but most of them are contractual jobs, even government agencies have job orders now. Some are even coterminous. Your job ends when a politician’s term ends. If you end up in a DOLE plantation, your work ends after five months because if you reach the sixth month you should be regularized, and capitalists don’t want that,” she added.
Migrante International was founded on 1996 after the death of Flor Contemplacion, an OFW hanged in Singapore for allegedly murdering another Filipina domestic helper. Since then it has been creating programs to aid the Filipino migrant workers around the world and lobbying for migrant rights in Congress. (davaotoday.com)
