I was covering the labor, immigration and foreign affairs beats back then and heard horrible stories of labor abuses, even rape, among foreign workers, including Filipinos. The stories intrigued and fascinated me.
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration eventually banned the deployment of Filipino workers to the island-chain U.S. commonwealth. The ban was only lifted after certain labor reforms were instituted here.
I didn’t plan to come here but certain circumstances had forced me. Now, I am one of the 11 million overseas Filipino workers spread around the world.
Labor is the single biggest export of the Philippine government since the Martial law era of the Marcos regime.
Tens of thousands of skilled Filipinos were sent to the Middle East and eventually opened the door for others to work in other countries looking for more workers.
Back in the ’70s and the ’80s, communication was limited between the migrants and their families to air mails and the costly long-distance calls.
Today, the digital age has revolutionized the telecommunication industry allowing families of migrant workers to communicate in real time on the internet through instant messaging with web cams or emails.
Homesickness is no longer a major issue but labor abuses remain the same in different forms — for most of them.
In search of jobs, with a bagful of dreams to escape the grinding poverty in the Philippines, thousands of Filipinos leave the country each day.
Their remittances drive the country’s struggling economy—long mired by corruption and bureaucracy in both the public and the private sectors.
Today, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is scheduled to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama in the White House.
Their meeting coincides as the U.S. Congress debates over next year’s military aid package for the Philippines which currently gets $32 million.
It will also happen while the Philippine Court of Appeals is hearing the case of labor activist Melissa Roxas, a Filipino-American who was abducted and tortured in the Philippines by men believed to be military agents.
According to Bayan-USA, the U.S. military aid to the Philippines grew a staggering 1,500% during the Bush administration. Part of the money went to the Philippine military personnel who committed human rights violations, including the killings of 1,013 people and 1,035 who were tortured.
Simultaneous protest actions in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C. were held this week in search of justice for Roxas who suffered repeated beatings and asphyxiation with plastic bags during her six-day captivity in what she believes was a military camp.
Under the Arroyo administration six OFWs-— Jenifer Beduya, Miguel Fernandez, Wilfredo Bautista, Antonio Alvesa, Sergio Aldana and Rey Cortez— were beheaded in Saudi Arabia.
At least three more OFWs are now awaiting their execution in Jeddah. Edison and Rolando Gonzales and Eduardo Arcilla were sentenced to die by beheading by the Saudi courts for murder.
Bayan and representatives of churches, community organizations, labor unions, and other concerned groups are appealing to President Obama to live up to his declarations of “change,” by asking President Arroyo what action she intends to take about the rampant human rights violations that continue to plague the Philippines.
During Arroyo’s meeting with Obama, she is also expected to make a pitch to support proposed changes to the Philippine Constitution.
Analysts said the so-called charter change would wipe out constitutional protections that protect Philippine sovereignty by allowing 100% foreign ownership of Philippine land and key industries, as well as open the door to a power extension for President Arroyo beyond the end of her term in 2010.
I am sure these aren’t the changes that Filipinos are seeking.
Until real changes in the Philippines happen, abuses will remain albeit in different forms.
Postnote:
My brother and the 22 other Filipino seafarers on-board the Greek-owned tanker MV Irene EM remain in the hands of the Somali pirates off the Gulf of Aden in Africa.
There is no word yet when they would be released as negotiations between the shipping company and the pirates continue.
What concerns our family the most is that the ship had run out of food and water supplies per the captain’s account.
He told his family, when the pirates gave him the chance to make a call last week, many of the crew members are now sick and desperate.
With no potable water around, the crews are forced to drink the water coming from the ship’s air conditioning units.
The captain said they can no longer hold the ordeal.
MV Irene has been held since April 14. Armed Somali pirates are still manning the ship with the hostages inside.
The ship’s owner said the Somali pirates are creating fictional crisis to get what they want.
It says: “The company is continuing its negotiations in the pirates holding MV Irene EM and its crew. A common tactic used by Somali pirates is the threat to kill or harm crew members in an attempt to create fictional crises and extort more money from the company. To date these threats have been carried out.”
Whether the captain’s account is fictional or not is immaterial.
What matters now is to save the lives of those onboard the ship.
On a personal note, I am grateful to those who emailed me to express sympathy and offer prayers for my brother’s safe release.
Thank you to David Cohen, the former deputy assistant secretary of the Interior, for spreading the word on Facebook and to CNMI Congressman Gregorio “Kilili” Sablan who pledged to help resolve the MV Irene hostage crisis situation.
