OFWS: A NEGLECTED SECTOR

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

(Author's Note: This article was published in the May 1-15, 2014 issue of The Philippine Catholic Veritas. The figures cited in the article need updating, but it has not diminished the fact that the country still has no policies on overseas Filipino workers or OFWs.)

IF CRITICS are to be believed, the Philippines, despite the annual contributions of over $20 billion in foreign exchange earnings of the 10 million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) deployed worldwide, does not have any solid, viable, and sustainable policy on its workers.

Despite their unparalleled contributions to the Philippine economy, the government continues to show a cavalier attitude on this sector, treating the workers as second class citizens.

Although the export of human labor has evolved to become a multibillion dollar enterprise for the past 40 years, the government appears unkind to what it has once described as its "modern-day heroes." Proof: the national budget allocates little funds for OFWs.

Because of the limited budgetary outlays, those workers who encounter difficulties in their foreign works, are left to fend for themselves. When they return for good, they hardly have the means to start anew and reintegrate themselves in mainstream society.

Hence, the workers constitute a neglected sector. Except for some lip service and existing policies supposedly to protect and assist them, the government hardly attends to their requirements.

Filipino Diaspora

Dictator Ferdinand Marcos allowed the exodus of Filipino workers to foreign destinations in the early 1970s, or early days of his martial rule, mainly as a stop-gap measure to the then growing unemployment. But what started as a stop-gap measure has become a multibillion dollar enterprise, making it a regular feature of the Philippine economy.

Over the last 40 years, the 10 million-strong Filipino diaspora has been hailed as the real backbone of the domestic economy. In 2012, total exports reached almost $51 billion and revenues from almost 4.3 million tourists, half of whom were Filipinos, totaled only $2.7 billion. Without the over $20 billion annual foreign remittances of OFWs, the domestic economy could hardly sustain its requirements.

Their annual remittances could go up to $40 billion if only the foreign exchange earnings that pass through illegal channels are to be counted. Their annual earnings of over $20 billion comprise five percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product of $430 billion. The foreign exchange surplus of over $12 billion comes from the earnings of the OFWs and immigrants, skilled Filipino workers making the nation's biggest export.

When the 1997 financial crisis crippled many Asian economies, the Philippines did not suffer much unlike its Southeast Asian neighbors. It showed unquestionable resilience and buoyancy. This is because the OFW sector sustained the national economy; their foreign exchange contributions propped up the economy.

Adaptability

No one could be more expedient and adaptable on earth other than the OFWs. Throw them in any of the inhospitable places on this planet and they will certainly survive.

The Filipino Diaspora is visible in most parts of the world. Filipino workers are in the desert construction sites in the Middle East countries, the fishing boats on the Scandinavian fjords, the cruise ships in the Caribbean, the homes of the rich and famous in Europe and the United States, or in the typhoon ravaged islands of the South Pacific. They perform jobs that range from the highly technical to the menial, or from the lowly to the sophisticated.

Values

The Filipino Diaspora survived the hostile environment because the foreign workers have brought with them essential Filipino traits and values ​​that all reflect persistence, adaptability, expediency, a great sense of humor, and a deep sense of religiosity.

The fundamental value is "bahala na" (literally, come what may). No Filipino would survive the challenges of a foreign job without adhering to this value. Contrary to Western thinkers, who regard it as an expression of fatalism, the OFWs have added a dimension to this value. This is "tibay ng dibdid" in Tagalog, or audacity and courage to take care of themselves. Only those workers, who would dare to go out to meet the hostile foreign environment, could survive the challenges.

In short, the Filipino overseas workers have made it a proactive value. It's no longer as static or fatalistic as it used to be in the past.

The workers exhibit other three values: "diskarte," "sapalaran," or "abilidad" to take of the risks in their foreign assignments. They could be loosely translated as a sense of adventure; strategy, ingenuity; and ability, adaptability.

Ask them on why they are working abroad and their answers would invariably go around these concepts. They would add their love of God and family.

Native practices

Those contract workers bring with them their native practices when they work overseas. Every Sunday, most workers would be found gathering in Christian churches - mostly Catholic - hearing masses abroad and joining church services. Sociologists call it "nativism," or the tendency to retain their old cultural practices despite relocation to other countries, or cultural settings.

Or they would gather in large numbers in some squares. The weekend gatherings of Filipino DHs in Hong Kong have become perfect occasions for a treat of Filipino snacks. They feast on lumpia, pancit and dinuguan, which are cooked by women there.

But they also bring some disturbing practices. In Hong Kong, Singapore, and other Asian cities, Pinoys trhere bet on daily jueteng (informal lottery) or the ending PBA game, using an organized bunch of local runners and bet collectors.

Also, women have made informal lending a part of Hong Kong's underground economy. Cash strapped Pinays could borrow a certain amount of money from fellow Filipinas, using their passports as collateral. Filipino men also hold sabong (cockfighting) there. For a while, they succeeded to bring in chicken eggs and incubate them there to become fighting cocks. Their Chinese friends join them in the betting.

In Singapore, those women had different stories. Some DHs became depressed (binuryong) and committed suicide by jumping from the high-rise apartments of employers. The maltreatment of some workers by their employers is widely reported too. In some destinations, notably Taiwan, OFWs, particularly Filipinos, were reported to have been mugged publicly.

Heavy social cost

But the export of human labor is not - and has never been - a bed of roses; it is always with a heavy social cost. A never ending string of sob stories are associated with the OFWs. Husbands who have become philanderers, wives who have gone astray, teen-age sons, who have become criminals and drug addicts, teen-age daughters, who have become unwed mothers - these are just a few of the plots and subplots that are being told and retold from one mouth to another about the lives of many workers.

Because of loneliness and homesickness, some workers have become mentally unstable. Some committed suicide, while others have run away from their employers and work sites. The heavy social cost arising from their estrangement from their families is a reason that some advocates have openly called for the adoption of a policy to stop their deployment overseas and work for the return of other OFWs to strengthen society.

They assert that no amount of foreign exchange inflows could justify the deployment of OFWs, if it could lead to weakening of the social fabric of Philippine society. The heavy social cost has been largely unmatched by the huge foreign exchange earnings, the advocates claim. For every dollar of remittances, the country spends three dollars to attend to the social deviation caused by OFW families here.

Labor migration

Twenty years after Marcos allowed the deployment of Filipino workers abroad, Congress has enacted a labor migration policy, which protects workers from illegal recruitment and other abuses. Republic Act 8042, or the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995, seeks to promote their interests while working abroad. Congress hurriedly enacted it to neutralize the backlash that resulted from the decision of the Singaporean court to impose a death sentence on Filipino domestic Flor Contemplacion, who was accused of killing a fellow Filipino domestic in 1994.

RA 8042 explicitly says: "The protection of the Filipino migrant workers and the promotion of their welfare, in particular, and the protection of the dignity and fundamental rights and freedoms of the Filipino citizen abroad, in general, will be the highest priority concerns of the Secretary of Foreign Affairs and the Philippine Foreign Service Posts. "

RA 8042 provides mechanisms to protect Filipino labor migrants from issues such as illegal recruitment and abuse by their employers. This law calls for the creation of P100 million fund to guarantee loans of families of departing OFWs, P100 million emergency fund for repatriation of distressed workers in their host countries, and P100 million legal fund for workers facing court cases in foreign countries.

RA 8042 also provides for the establishment of Migrant Workers and Other Overseas Filipinos Resource Center to provide counseling and legal services, welfare assistance, including medical services, post-arrival orientation, settlement and community networking services, human resource development, including skills training, monitoring of daily situations of migrant workers.

It provides for the establishment of replacement and monitoring center to aid their reintegration into mainstream society and develop livelihood programs and promoting local employment.

In late 1997, Congress passed RA 8424, or the "Tax Reform Act of 1997," which exempts all OFWs from paying taxes on their income that comes from working abroad. It says that only his income comes from local sources that could be taxed.

Low budget

But the provisions under RA 8042 have been adversely affected by the perceived dwindling budgetary allocations for OFWs. Out of the 2014 national budget of P2.264 trillion, the Department of Labor and Employment has a budget of P10.22 billion, or 0.45 percent of the overall national budget. 

The budget of P10.22 billion for labor is subdivided into P7.60 billion for regional operations, P2.12 billion for central operations, and P499 million for overseas workers operations.

OFW Rep. Roy Seneres, the lone representative of the OFW sector in Congress, decried that since the budget of P499 million for overseas operations represents 4.9 percent of the budget of P10.22 billion for the Department of Labor and Emplyment, "we are totally ungrateful and unmindful of the contributions of our modern-day heroes."

According to Seneres, the workers' contributions could reach five percent of the GDP, but the government is spending a negligible 0.022 percent, or a little over one-fifth of one percent of its overall 2014 national budget for OFWs, indicating the government's low regard for this sector. "The mismatch is too glaring to ignore," he said.

Policy distortions

The national budget is not just a list or summary of the expenditures - or investments - of the national government. It is the compendium of explicit and implicit policies of the national government. In short, it is a single summary of all national policies.

All implicit and explicit national policies find expression in the national budget. Any policy that requires priority has to have the required budgetary allocation. Otherwise, the pursuit of that national policy would be jeopardized. Hence, the national budget is the single most effective expression of all expressed and unexpressed national policies.

With such miniscule budget for OFWs, the national government has embarked on a policy to discourage ordinary citizens from seeking foreign employment. It appears that the message now is that the government could not provide support or protection for OFWs, who are seeking greener pastures abroad.

It appears that any Filipino who seeks foreign employment, can only do it at his own peril. Hence, he can not hope for or expect government protection, support and assistance, when the goings get rough.

Policy options

Congress has been deluged by many policy initiatives to improve the lot of workers. A number of bills have been filed. But the administration of President Benigno Aquino III has not made a single pronouncement for OFWs.

It has not come out with a strategy to create alternative industries to absorb the workers, particularly those who have developed skills and highly priced foreign specialties during their stints. It has to develop an industrial program to create massive industries that would provide employment not just for the workers but also to other technically qualified citizens.

The administration has to spell out a definitive policy to phase out gradually - within a decade or less - the deployment of OFWs to give way to these industries.

It is about time to attend to the country's own development initiatives to stop their deployment elsewhere and deploy them instead to the local industries to be created by such development initiatives.