“While the government relies on the remittances of our OFWs to keep the economy afloat, there are still many cases of abused OFWs because the government continues to neglect them.” – Garry Martinez, Migrante
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – People seeking jobs abroad have been buried in debt even before they flew out of the country for employment. Ivy Martillano, 31, for one, is buried in debt and might face charges of estafa if she is not able to settle her debt with Golden Right Pay Light lending agency. She has an existing loan of P70,000 ($1,627), which she was not able to pay because she did not finish her contract as a domestic helper in Hong Kong.
In November 2011, Martillano applied as a domestic helper in Hong Kong because her husband does not have a regular job. “We have two children who we have to feed. I have no job here in our country, my husband, on the other hand, has no regular job. So I opted to apply for work abroad,” Martillano said in an interview with Bulatlat.com.
However, Martillano had a cruel employer abroad. “After only three days, I already wanted to go home. My female employer threw water at me because its temperature was not as she expected. Good thing the water was not too hot,” she said.
Martillano acquired the loan to pay for her placement fee so that she could immediately go to Hong Kong and work. But she could no longer take the maltreatment of her employer and after three months, she finally decided to go home.
“In a period of one year, I was the sixth helper who did not finish the contract with that family because she abuses us.”
She said she worked from 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. nonstop. Her only “rest” was while ironing their clothes. She stood while eating and before she slept she would hand wash all the baby’s clothes. She was also made to serve her female employer’s parents. “In my contract, it was stated that I would only work for them, working for her parents was not included. I was treated like a slave. I even got respiratory tract infection because of exhaustion. Every night I prayed that three months would end so I could go home.”
Martillano is only one of the many OFWs who experienced maltreatment in the hands of a cruel employer. They are compelled to work abroad as the economic crisis in the country is worsening. Under the administration of President Benigno “Noynoy” S. Aquino III, a huge number of Filipinos are still going abroad to work. Data from Migrante International, a global alliance of overseas Filipinos, shows that from January to October 2011, an additional 1.35 million Filipinos have been forced to go abroad due to lack of opportunities, decent jobs and wages, livelihood and social services in the country. The group said this figure is higher by 5.3 percent than the 1.281 million OFWs who were deployed from January to October 2010.
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Labor export policy has intensified under Aquino
In his two years in office, the group said, Aquino has done nothing to alleviate forced migration and instead pursued a more intensified, aggressive and sophisticated labor export policy than his predecessors.
There are many Filipinos like Martillano who have no work here in the country and are being pushed to seek employment abroad. And because she is a mother, she has to find a way to make her family survive. According to independent think-tank Ibon Foundation, the number of unemployed Filipinos has risen to unprecedented heights from 2001 to 2010 and even continues to reach record-high levels under Aquino. “One in every four workers is either jobless or underemployed.”
Those who find jobs in the country suffer from low wages. According to Migrante, since 2001, the gap between the mandated minimum wage and family living wage (FLW) in the National Capital Region (NCR) had considerably widened. “In 2001, the minimum wage was 52 percent of the FLW; by the end of 2011, the P426 ($9.90) minimum wage in NCR was only 43 percent of the P993 ($23) FLW.”
According to Ibon, for a family of five to eat a decent meal at least three times a day, they should earn at least P993 ($23). However, the average family in NCR now lives on P22 ($0.51) to P37 ($0.86) a day.
That is why even if it is difficult to produce money for the requirements to be able to get jobs abroad, still, many Filipinos try to find ways, even to the extent of being heavily indebted, to produce money and risk their lives trying their luck overseas. Migrante’s data shows that there are now 12 to 15 million OFWs scattered in 239 countries. The International Organization of Migrants (IOM) places the Philippines as the fourth leading migrant-sending country in the whole world, next only to China, Mexico, and India.
Data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) shows that there are 1.5 million Filipinos deployed abroad in 2010. Majority are deployed in Saudi Arabia (239,049), UAE (201,214) and Hong Kong (101,340). According to Migrante, most of the OFWs are in the service sector (154,535) working as domestic workers, hotel restaurant staff and caregivers; 129,647 are in manufacturing as factory workers; and 41,835 are professionals (doctors, nurses, teachers, etc.). Add to that the 341,150 sea-based workers.
But even jobs abroad are also decreasing. According to a study by Migrante, job orders have decreased over the years even before the global economic crisis hit. Data from the POEA shows that there were only 341, 966 new hires in 2010. Migrante said the number of new hires decreased by 2.2 percent compared to 2009 (349,715) and 2008 (376,973). The number of new hires also decreased in the first quarter of 2011; according to POEA data, there were only 380,188 new hires deployed or 3.9 percent lower than the 395,189 new hires deployed during the same period in 2010.
Sarah Maramag, campaign coordinator of Migrante said the government tries to hide the decrease in job orders abroad to protect its labor export policy. Data from the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) reveal that there are 15 million OFWs.
However, even with the decreasing number of jobs available abroad, more and more Filipinos still leave the country. At least 4,500 OFWs leave the country every day through the POEA. Add to this the millions who leave through irregular means, said Migrante. “They are those who become victims of trafficking and illegal recruitment, who eventually become undocumented in countries of transit or destination with the hope of landing jobs, despite not having regular documents.”
Remittance dependent
Remittances from OFWs prop up the economy of the country. According to Migrante, in 2010, remittances constituted 8.7 percent of the Gross National Product (GNP), surpassing the share of traditional exports. World Bank places the Philippines as the fourth biggest remittance-receiving country next to India, China and Mexico.
Despite the global economic crisis, remittances from OFWs remain at record-highs from 2001 to 2011. “Statistics from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) show that it had received a whopping $20 billion by end of 2011, from $18.8 billion in 2010 and $17.3 billion in 2009. During the first five months of 2011, an estimated $7.9 billion were remitted, 6.18 percent higher than remittances during the same period in 2010.”
Migrante attributed the high remittance to factors such as: (a) OFWs compensate for the depreciation of the dollar by sending more money to their families back home; (b) OFWs get two to three jobs to offset the effects of the crisis in host countries; (c) OFWs resort to more borrowings to be able to send money home; (d) OFWs are now sending the savings they had acquired over the years, if any; and (e) the number of undocumented OFWs sending remittances back home has increased.
Top five remittance-sending countries are the US, Canada, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom and Japan. Thirty to 40 percent of the 99 million population of the country now relies on the remittance of their relatives abroad.
Migrante chairman Garry Martinez criticized the government for neglecting OFWs despite their significant contribution to the economy. Among the cases of government neglect of OFWs, Martinez said, is the case of stranded OFWs in Syria, where nearly 200 OFWs are still in the Philippine Embassy waiting for repatriation.
“While the government relies on the remittances of our OFWs to keep the economy afloat, there are still many cases of abused OFWs because the government continues to neglect them,” Martinez said in the forum.
Failed
Contrary to Aquino’s commitment to protect OFWs and their families, many of them are still in dire situations.
Migrante said it is only under Aquino where four Filipinos were executed abroad in one year. The number of Filipinos on death row has also increased from 108 to 123 and 7,000 Filipinos are languishing in jails abroad without legal assistance. At least 20,000 are stranded and awaiting repatriation in the Middle East.
Direct services to OFWs also suffer as its budget was slashed by 18 percent in the 2012 national budget. This will greatly affect the 15 million OFWs abroad, said Martinez.
Also under Aquino, OFWs suffered more state exactions throughout the whole migration cycle. Migrante estimates that OFWs spend an average of P20,000 ($465) for processing of their requirements. Since 2010 however, the government had imposed numerous fees on OFWs, pre and post departure. The e-passport fee, mandatory Pag-ibig contributions, Philhealth premium cost, mandatory medical insurance, Affidavit of Support fees, among many others had increased.
State exactions, according to Migrante, have caused indebtedness among OFWs and their families. Martinez said the integration program of the Overseas Workers Welfare does not even help OFWs.
“The problem is here in our country, as well as the solution. Our call is clear: jobs here in the Philippines and not abroad.”
Martinez said OFWs should work hand in hand in making Aquino account for his neglect of OFWs, as well as the rest of the people. Martinez calls on OFWs to join them in a protest action on June 30 when Aquino celebrates his second year as president. “There are still many more OFWs to look for, some have died and some are alive and in jail. We should not take this for granted,” Martinez said. 
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