OFW FORUM
Jun Concepcion
Several groups are now earnestly campaigning in social media to get party list seats in Congress in the upcoming May 2022 polls.
Their principal objective is clear: get a party list slate so their top representatives get to become members of the House of Representatives.
Of course, they say their principal objective in Congress is to fight for the rights and welfare of overseas Filipinos.
Sure. This is great to hear. This is ultra sweet music to the ears. These promises include the following: Pension for OFWs; livelihood; housing; and OFW center in every barangay.
But to long-time overseas Pinoys, like this writer, these promises are more wild than meaningful and realistic.
Just think. How can several lawmakers – out of 304 – make a difference to OFWs in general even if they’re all committed to OFW affairs and welfare?
If the government itself cannot provide adequately and meet vital items in OFWs’ “ideal wish list,” how can a handful of Congress members do better than government agencies? Congress members create laws, not implement them. So how can they implement projects for the benefit of OFWs and their kin?
A scrutiny of the election promises of aspiring OFW party list Congress aspirants will easily reveal that they’re very unlikely to be delivered anytime in the future.
For instance, how can Congress members, even if they represent OFWs, provide pensions to returning OFWs if those OFWs themselves are not saving money while at work abroad? Even the government can’t give pensions or lump sum amounts to returning OFWs. How can government provide livelihood projects to returning OFWs if it’s always short of funds? How can this be done if select government units, notably cash-rich Land Bank of Philippines and SB Corporation, are unwilling to help first-time or start-up entrepreneurs?
And setting up an OFW center in every barangay across the country is a most hilarious joke, not a promise. Why set up an OFW center in areas with few or no OFWs? And if the proposed center can’t provide meaningful services to OFWs and their kin, why set them up in the first place? For show?
Sadly for OFWs, the upcoming national elections is serving as a convenient excuse for certain individuals to pursue personal agendas to gain public posts with high pay and perks, while genuine service to OFWs take a back seat.
More than OFW representatives in Congress or even a dedicated department for OFWs, what overseas Filipinos need most and urgently is an honest-to-goodness OFW Think Tank or Research Center.
The primary tasks of this Think Tank is to identify some of the most serious problems plaguing OFWs, especially those in the Middle East, conduct a holistic and critical analysis of the problems and formulate solutions to be recommended to senior government officials.
For instance, the notorious Kafala system in the Middle East is the root cause of most horrendous physical and psychological abuses perpetrated against Filipino women in the Middle East. But more than 50 years since the government started deploying large numbers of OFWs in the Middle East in the 1970s, Kafala-associated problems have not been addressed thoroughly. This failure is certainly infuriating and disgusting.
The social costs of migration or prolonged separation of millions of Filipino women from their children must be exacting a very heavy toll on the latter in terms of juvenile delinquencies, unwanted pregnancies and many others. I haven’t seen or am aware of any attempt by the government to document in a comprehensive manner the negative side of migration or mass deployment of Filipino women across the world. Why hasn’t the government done this after 50 years of Filipino diaspora? Again, this question is infuriating and disgusting.
A legitimate OFW Think Tank should address major OFW problems, especially those which have been pestering for decades, and viable solutions to them threshed out for possible resolution.
Sadly and unfortunately, many civil servants have become incompetent after years in their government posts where they are paid regular monthly salaries without needing to meet satisfactory work standards unlike in the private sector. As a result of the poor quality of civil service, an undetermined number of Filipino women across the Middle East suffer physical and other forms of atrocities in the hands of their employers many of whom have a low regard for foreign workers because ot the decades-old Kapala system in the region.
An honest-to-goodness OFW Think Tank, not a handful of OFW representatives in Congress is the best way forward for overseas Filipinos in general.
Whether funded by the government or the private sector, this OFW Think Tank should be set up as soon as possible and should draw the participation of those with extensive and intimate knowledge and understanding of OFW affairs and should not be comprised solely of pencil pushers and bureaucrats whose appointments derive mainly from connections to appointing officials, not on merits.
Contact writer at [email protected]