OFW FORUM
Jun Concepcion
The pathetic plight of Filipinos caught and still trapped in war-torn Ukraine is by no means the first time for overseas Filipinos to find themselves in civil wars abroad. Syria, Libya, Afghanistan, name any other strife-torn part of the world, and chances are Filipinos are there.
As Filipinos figure in war after war after war ad nauseam across the globe, one would assume that Filipino officials must have formulated eons ago a holistic and effective master plan to extricate Filipinos from harm’s away before they get caught in crossfires in civil wars and conflicts abroad.
But as can be gleaned from Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Sarah Lou Arriola’s morning media interview on February 26, an undetermined number of Filipinos still in Ukraine are largely on their own to get out alive from the war-torn country that Russian forces continue to attack.
“We’ve accounted for only 181 Filipino nationals in Ukraine so far. We’re trying to reach out to others. We will assist those who wish to go home. There are others who don’t want to go home, but we’ll still assist them in whatever way we can,” she said.
“We’ve asked Poland to open a humanitarian corridor for them to get out, and Secretary (Teodoro) Locsin even flew there to assist those who wish to come home,” Arriola added.
But how to get out of Ukraine to reach Poland when roads are heavily congested by vehicles escaping the fighting? And how about Filipinos caught in war zones?
Though late in the day, the government should do the following to try to avoid Filipinos getting killed in the ongoing war in Ukraine.
1] Immediately launch an extensive information campaign using all government-owned television and radio stations plus the assistance of privately-owned media outfits
2] Call on everyone with family members and other kin in Ukraine to get out of that country, lest they get killed or seriously injured in the fighting
3] Be forceful and blunt in messaging.
Tell everyone that Filipinos still in Ukraine are best alive when they get home than dead in body bags even as they will merely inflict more hardships to their family members when dead.
4] Agencies related to OFWs, specifically the foreign affairs and labor departments, OWWA and POEA should each designate several teams of personnel to create and post messages in their respective websites and social media pages, pressing Filipinos in Ukraine to get out of the country as soon as they can
OFWs in desperate circumstances are likely to search for quick answers, especially to life-and-death problems. Telling them which areas in Ukraine remain safe and how to make their way to Poland and other points of exit from Ukraine can be very helpful and vital. In this regard, the social media pages of DFA, DOLE, OWWA and POEA can play a very critical role in saving OFW lives.
While the government has the primary responsibility in ensuring that OFWs don’t find themselves in harm’s way overseas, OFWs themselves have a very critical responsibility to themselves and their loved ones back home.
In the case of Ukraine, the whole world knows that war is coming weeks and several months before Russia attacked its next-door neighbor.
Most, if not all, OFWs in Ukraine should have gone home and asked their employers for leave even unpaid so they can get back to their families safe and sound. Temporary loss of overseas income is painful, especially if there is no ready replacement to it.
But plain and simple common sense should be used here. Any and all OFWs are better safe back home than dead and unable to work again overseas to support their loved ones. If an OFW has successfully found a job abroad, chances are very good that he or she can do it again a second, third or even multiple times in the future.
All OFWs, especially those still trapped in Ukraine, should realize and fully understand one very incontrovertible fact: there are numerous opportunities to work abroad. Why insist on staying put in a war-torn country, like Ukraine, even if work conditions there were fine during normal times?
All OFWs should think long and hard: Living is much better than dead.
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