Migrant Labour in Southeast Asia Country Study: The Philippines ...

�� 1

Migrant Labour in Southeast Asia

Country Study: The Philippines

Mary Lou L. Alcid Assistant Professor

College of Social Work and Community Development University of the Philippines-Diliman

�� 2

1. Introduction The Philippines is one of three countries in the world with an economy heavily dependent on remittances of overseas workers. What began as a purportedly temporary measure to respond to massive unemployment and lack of foreign exchange has now become a full-blown and lucrative labor export industry. The Philippine government estimates there must be 6.8 million Filipino in 191 countries, as of December 2003. (1) This is almost 10 per cent of the total population, and 19.6% of the labor force. Every day, at least 2,500 Filipino add to this number, leaving the country through official channels. The number swells if we include those who depart on non-working visas but actually intend to find employment. Overseas employment has been the country's lifesaver for 31 years now. But the problems it has spawned are just as tremendous, if not more. Illegal recruitment. Trafficking in women and children. Contract violations. Violations of human rights. Violence against women. An average of two-to three people returning to the country in boxes. They have taken their toll on the minds, bodies and spirit of the workers themselves, their families, specially the children who grow up without one or both parents. The nation also has to contend with the continuing loss of engineers, teachers, nurses, and doctors. Organizations and networks of families of overseas Filipino/a workers (OFWs) , and NGOs have been at the forefront of addressing immediate and strategic needs, problems and concerns of OFWs. Through direct services, organizing, popular education, and advocacy at the local, national and international levels, they have pursued relentlessly the cause of working for the recognition and protection of the rights and welfare of OFWs, regardless of legal status. They have evolved programs that not only challenge what government is doing but also offer concrete alternatives that sow the seeds for a just , truly democratic and gender -fair society where overseas work will be one of many, not the ONLY option available to our people. Labor unions are a logical stakeholder in international labor migration. But, where Filipino/a land-based workers are concerned, they have not been a significant presence. The seafarers are another matter. The nature and structure of the maritime industry provide for union involvement right from the recruitment stage. Seafarers automatically become union members of the maritime labor centers with which the shipping company has a collective bargaining agreement. Relative to their land-based counterparts, seafarers are ,thus, generally perceived to be better protected. Despite being peripheral, it is labor centers that represent even land-based workers in two government bodies concerned with labor migration, ie. the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) . Following the principle of tripartism, the labor centers have reserve seats in the Board of Directors of both agencies. The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines

�� 3

(TUCP) which is said to have the biggest membership among all labor centers, sits in the Board of Directors of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration. The Associated Maritime and Seamen's Union of the Philippines (AMOSUP) is in the board of both agencies. This paper scans what key non-governmental stakeholders -migrants' organizations, NGOs and labor unions- are doing in response to the situation of OFWs. It examines areas of actual cooperation among the stakeholders, and proposes strategies on how and in what areas labor unions can partner with the organizations/networks of migrants, families and NGOs. 2. Overview of the Country’s Migrant Labor Context 2.1. General Labor Market Situation The Philippines is a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) . Past governments as well as the current one have generally pursued the neoliberal economic paradigm for development. But, contrary to the promised outcome, the standard prescription of liberalization, deregulation, privatization has only led to regular fiscal and economic crisis, deeper indebtedness, joblessness, massive impoverishment, and greater reliance on export of labor as a source of jobs and foreign exchange. In a country marked by inequitable distribution of resources, globalization has only made the rich richer, the poor poorer. According to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the Philippine economy continues to be driven mainly by consumption and remittances of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), not by “productive and sustainable activities.” In 2004, personal consumer spending had a 69.04 per cent share relative to the gross domestic product (GDP), higher than Indonesia (60.5 per cent), Thailand (54.5 per cent) and Malaysia (48.3 per cent). But in terms of investment ratio to GDP, the Philippines only had 17 per cent , much lower than Indonesia (22.7 per cent), Malaysia (22.4 per cent) and Thailand (27.1 per cent). (2) In her inaugural address last year, Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo promised to create six to ten million jobs during her six-year term. It would appear that, if she be able to complete her term and deliver, the jobs would not be at home but overseas. The National Statistics Office (NSO) puts the labor force at 35.126 million as of April 2005. Employment rate is at 91.7 per cent , unemployment at 8.3 per cent and underemployment 26.1 per cent. The unemployment rate seems to have improved compared to the 13.7 per cent rate in the same period last year. (3) But the answer lies in a changed definition of employment and underemployment. IBON Foundation, an independent socio-economic think-tank, asserts that NSO changed its definition of the two terms in April 2005. "Employed" now refers to those who are " working at all even for only an hour during the past week." (4)

�� 4

Two-thirds of jobs are reportedly only part-time and half are own account and unpaid workers . (5) "Unemployed" is now defined as " those without work, seeking work and available for work." Nicolas says this could "..cut the unemployment rate by as much as 4 per cent and the number of unemployed by some 1.5 million workers. Hence, the unemployment rate would be at its lowest in 2 1/2 decades. " (6) Forty-six per cent of workers (13.458 M) are in the service sector, 37.4% ( 10.915 M) in agriculture, and only 16.4 % (4,786M) in industry. (April 2001) (7) Globalization, corporate restructuring and closure of companies have resulted in the displacement of workers and communities. (Table No. 1) (8) The Alliance of Progressive Labor says displacement of workers is structural in nature, ie. " ..people who lose their jobs, especially those 30 years and above , remain jobless for a long time because of the huge amount of surplus labour or because their marketable skills have been rendered obsolete by technological development. …(9) More than fifty per cent of the labor force are believed to be in the "informal sector, i.e. working without security of tenure like casuals and contractuals." (10) Table No. 1 Establishments that have Closed and Retrenched workers due to

Economic Reasons and Workers Displaced No. of Establishments that reported Closure No. of workers affected

2004* 342 11,619

2003 577 24,638

2002 762 25,240

TOTAL 1,681 61,497

No. of Establishments that reported reduction of workforce No. of workers affected

1,641 24,828

2,709 43,335

2,702 54,851

7,052 123,014

* Preliminary figures Source: Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics, Department of Labor and Employment as cited in www.ibon.org

�� 5

Another consequence of globalization is labor flexibilization in the form of job contracting and flexible compensation practices such as piece-rating and commission-based payments are also on the rise. (11) If one is lucky to have a job, s/he has to contend with low wages . The National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) defines the living wage as "the amount of family income needed to provide for the family's food and non-food requirements, with sufficient allowance for savings and investments for social security , so as to enable the family to live and maintain a decent standard of human existence beyond mere subsistence level, taking into account all of the family's physiological, social and other needs. " Based on data from the National Statistics Office, an IBON study revealed that a worker with a family of six should earn a daily minimum wage of P479.06 (US$8.55 at US$1=P56) to live on subsistence level. The actual daily minimum wage is only an average of P202.59 (US$3.61) nationwide. The annual per capita in 2003 was P12,267.00 or less than US$225. It is no surprise then that the number of Filipinos living below poverty line has increased from 57 per cent of total families in 1975 to 85 per cent in 2003. (12 ) The government, on the other, hand, puts the poverty incidence only at 24.70 per cent of total number of families or 30.4% of the population. (13) But, again this may be attributed to a change in its methodology in determining the poverty threshold.. Filipinos have been experiencing worsening economic crisis since 1975. "Economic crisis" is defined as the "growing impoverishment of the majority of the people". (14) It is exacerbated by the current grave fiscal crisis. The fiscal deficit has averaged 5.7 per cent of GNP in the last 4 years. During the same period, the average annual rate of real GNP growth has only been 4.6 per cent.. (15) The government has an average deficit spending of P200 million per year. (16) The fiscal crisis is better understood against the following data: �� Trade deficit of US$713 million in 2004 ( 17 )) �� Debt servicing which entails automatic appropriation of at least 30 per cent of annual

national budget to payments even of illegitimate debts. IBON has stated that in 2004, for every P10 income, the government spent P5.00 on debt servicing to the detriment of the economy and social services. (18)

Total external debt in 2004 stood at US$54.846 billion. The public sector, accounts for 69 per cent of the amount. In 2004, interest and principal payments on the public sector debt stock rose to 68 per cent of the national budget in 2004 from only 39 per cent in 2001. Consequently, the government has cut down on social services and

�� 6

public sector investment. The current economic growth is said to be "not strong enough to offset the growth of the public sector borrowing requirement". (19)

The Philippines has the highest consolidated public debts relative to other Asian countries. (20) �� Revenue losses

��Tax exemptions for large corporations : Former Finance Secretary Juanita Amatong revealed that the government lost P229.1 billion ($4.18 billion) in potential revenues in 2003 alone due to tax exemptions for large corporations. (21)

��Tax leakages: yearly losses due to tax leakages ranged from P215 billion ($3.92

billion) to P285 billion (US$5.20 billion). (22)

��Tariff reductions : Revenue losses from tariff reduction are estimated at P100 billion (US$1.83 billion) a year. (23)

��Corruption: A 2004 study by the United Nations Development Programme

(UNDP) placed the yearly revenue losses from corruption at 13 percent of the national budget. However, the National Tax Research Center (NTRC) estimates annual corruption losses at 20-30 percent. (24)

Because of the fiscal crisis, the Arroyo government has decreased spending on social services. Worse, it has been pushing for a higher value-added tax and the expansion of its coverage to include basic food products (eg. rice) and other revenue-generating measures . It hopes to generate P65 billion in revenues from a 2 per cent increase in value-added tax. But it would be an additional burden to majority of the people, perhaps the last straw to break the camel's back. Pres. Arroyo has lost credibility as a result of allegations of electoral fraud. There is a move to have her impeached. If and when the Supreme Court allows the imposition of the e-vat, there would predictably be more political and social unrest. 2.2. Profile of Migrant Labour The number of overseas Filipinos is estimated to be between seven to eight million spread out in 191 countries. It includes both the documented and the undocumented, sea-based and land-based, as well as those who go abroad on a contractual or permanent basis.

�� 7

Table No. 2 Estimated Number of Overseas Filipinos By World Region 2003

Region Undocumented Documented OFW and Overseas Filipinos

Americas 186, 918 2,585,008 Asia and Pacific 549,091 1,433,705 Europe 119,442 441,451 West Asia and Africa 77,196 143, 232 Total 932,647 (14%) 5,892,396 (86%)

Source: Department of Foreign Affairs Increasing Deployment of Workers Annual deployment has been increasing at an average of 2.27 per cent in the last 5 years. (Table No.3) The government target of deploying 1 million annually , however, has yet to be met. Perhaps, this year . In the first semester of 2005, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) says the total number of deployed workers was 527,573 representing a 6.8 per cent increase. Land-based workers grew by 6.1 per cent to 402,332 from 379,255 a year ago; sea-based rising 9.2. per cent , from 114,692 last year to 125,241. (25)

Table No. 3 Deployment of Filipino/as Overseas (2000-2004)

Year Total Growth

Rate Landbased Newhires Rehires Seabased

2000 841,628 0.55% 643,304 253,418 389,886 198,324 2001 866,590 3.08% 661,639 271,085 390,554 204,951 2002 891,908 2.80% 682,315 289,288 393,027 209,593 2003 867,969 -2.68% 651,938 279,565 372,373 216,031 2004 933,588 7.60% 740,586 284,912 419,674 229,002

Source: Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) The top ten countries for new hires in 2004 are in two major regions- East Asia and West Asia. West Asia continues to be the main region of deployment with 51.4% of the new hires . Combining new hires and re-hires, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia received more than a third (32%) of the workers.

�� 8

Table No. 4 Top Ten Countries of Deployment of New Hires

Country Frequency

Japan 71,166 Saudi Arabia 58,363 Taiwan 34, 030 United Arab Emirates

26,653

Kuwait 26,640 Hong Kong 16,511 Qatar 10,919 Lebanon 6,155 Bahrain 3,683 South Korea 3,516 Total 257,636

Source: POEA Table No. 5 Top Ten Countries of Destination for New Hires and Rehires Combined

Destination No. of Workers Deployed

Saudi Arabia 188, 107 Hong Kong

87, 254

Japan 78,480 United Arab Emirates

68,386

Taiwan 45,186 Kuwait 36,591 Italy 23,329 Singapore 22,198 Qatar 21,360 United Kingdom 18,347

Source: POEA Gendered Skill Categories and Destinations Table No. 6 shows the deployment of land-based new hires abroad by skill category in 2004. The biggest concentration of workers (40%) is still in the service sector - domestic workers and related household workers. The nature of jobs taken on by OFWs and other Asian migrant workers still belongs to the 3-D category : dirty, difficult and

�� 9

dangerous. Thus, such jobs are usually in the informal sector, among the lowest paying in the destination countries, socially devalued and unprotected.

Table No. 6 Land-based New Hires by Skill Category (2004)

Skill Category Female Male Total Professional/ Technical Workers 79,862 13,144 93,006 Administrative and Managerial Workers 151 339 490 Clerical workers 3,054 2,167 5,221 Sales workers 2,741 1,162 3,903 Service workers 101,595 11,261 112,856 Agricultural workers 20 645 665 Production workers 20,713 41,978 60,708 For reclassification 258 1,368 1,626 Total 208,411 72,064 280,475 Source: POEA The government vows to send more professionals abroad. The increasing figure for the "Professional/Technical Workers" category, however, is no indicator of success. Said category includes overseas performing artists (OPAs), usually Japan-bound. OPAs comprise more than sixty per cent of the professionals. This would also explain the 6:1 ratio of female to male professional/technical workers. In 1999, women made up only 64% of the new hires. Five years later, they comprise 74.3% of new hires. What has not changed is the nature of their jobs. The jobs are still in the service sector and entertainment. Table No. 7 Land-based Jobs of Female New Hires (2004)

Type of Jobs Frequency Domestic helpers and related household workers 61,624 Composers, musicians, singers 41,724 Choreographers and dancers 26,482 Caregivers and caretakers 19,400 Production and related workers 9,515 Nurses professional 7,589 Waiters Bartenders and related 3,982 Service workers 3,976 Sewers and embroiderers 3,701 Tailors and dressmakers 2,723 TOTAL 180,716

Source: POEA Forty-four per cent (44%) of women are domestic workers, caregivers and caretakers . In many countries of destination, such jobs are lowly valued, and excluded from coverage of labor laws. Moreover, they require women to live in the employers’ houses, thereby

�� 10

making the women on call 24/7. Such job characteristics intersect with gender bias and women’s status as migrants, and their citizenship in a poor country to make women in housework among the most vulnerable to abuse and violence. Entertainers (composers, musicians and singers, choreographers and dancers) account for 37.7% of the new hires. The top destination is Japan where 61 per cent of women overseas performing artists (OPAs) were deployed. The government has set 18 years as the minimum age for women OPAs. But, it is not uncommon for recruiters to fake the age of underaged girls. Another occupation where women dominate is nursing. A study of the National Institute of Health (NIH) revealed the country is now the world's top exporter of nurses. The Philippine Nurses Association estimates that as much as 40% of the country's nurses have gone abroad. POEA figures do not show the true picture. This is because hospitals usually those in the US , recruit nurses directly as immigrants. NIH Director Jaime Galvez -Tan., M.D., says that POEA records show only 84,843 nurses in the last ten years. But, based on records of destination countries, Tan said 50,000 left in the last three years alone.

Table No. 8 Top Ten Destinations For Newly Hired Land Based Women Workers

(2004)

Country Total Number of Women Workers

Type of work No.

Choreographers and dancers 26,654 Japan 68,417 Composers, musicians, and singers

41,338

Domestic helpers 7,558 Nurses professional 5,176 Sewer and embroiderers 2,374

Saudi Arabia 28,833

Tailors and dressmakers 2,326 Production and related workers 8,583 Taiwan 26,006 Caregivers and caretakers 13,749

Kuwait 19,162 Domestic workers 16,991 Domestic workers 5,779 Waiters bartenders 1,857

United Arab Emirates 18,265

Salesmen shop assistants and demonstrators

1,325

Hong Kong 16,320 Domestic workers 16,303 Lebanon 6,045 Domestic workers 6,043 Qatar 4,997 Domestic workers 2,392 Israel 2,848 Caregivers and caretakers 2,778

Domestic worker 650 Bahrain 2,637 Waiters bartenders 478

Source: POEA

�� 11

In view of the greater number of women in relation to men, and the nature of their jobs which are extensions of their traditional roles as housekeepers and nurturers, labor migration is characterized as highly feminized. Higher Remittances Remittances from its overseas workers shielded the Philippines from the economic and financial crisis that hit many of its Asian neighbors in 1997. In 1975, annual remittance was only US$103 million. In 1990, it reached US$1.181 billion, peaking in 1998 (US$7.368 billion) . The next three years saw a decrease in remittances (between US$6 -6.7 B). Between 2002-04, annual remittances have averaged US$ 7.7B. In 2005, the government is optimistic OFW remittances would achieve the projected 10 per cent increase, i.e. between US$9-10 billion. The basis for such optimism is the fact that OFW remittances of US$4.88 B in the first semester of this year is a 22 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2004. Because of remittances, the government kept the economic growth target of 5.3 per cent this year. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco Jr noted that .."banks continue to intensify their efforts in extending banking services to overseas Filipino workers by increasing the number of remittance enters abroad, introducing innovative remittance transfer and establishing ties with foreign financial institutions." (26) Table No. 9 Annual Remittances of Overseas Filipinos (1997-2004)

Year Remittances (in thousand US$)

% Growth

1997 5,741,835 1998 7,367,989 28 1999 6,794,550 -7.7 2000 6,050,450 -7.5 2001 6,031,271 -0.31 2002 6,880,000 14 2003 7,578,458 10 2004 8,550,371 13

� � � Source: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas� By source country, the United States leads with US$ 4,904,302. A far second is Saudi Arabia (US$ 877,209) followed by Italy (US$449,287). Women overseas workers have proven “to be more reliable than men in sending money back home on a regular basis and in higher amounts’” (27) within the range of a 71% increase in remittances relative to their male counterparts (28 )

�� 12

2.3. Policy Framework and Issues R.A. 8042 (The Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995) provides the policy framework for labor migration. It was hastily enacted on June 7, 1995, three months after the execution of Ms Flor Contemplacion, a domestic worker hanged in Singapore for the alleged murder of another Filipina domestic worker , Ms Delia Maga, and the Singaporean boy Maga took care of. When news of Contemplacion's pending execution broke out in the first quarter of 1995, migrants' rights organizations and NGOs took to the streets almost on a daily basis to protest government neglect of her case and to pressure it to negotiate with Singapore to stay the death penalty. Singapore did not bend, even amidst international pressure. This led to a strain in the relations of both countries. The Philippines even imposed a ban on the deployment of domestic workers to Singapore. Which had no teeth because Singapore accepted Filipinas on tourist visa and permitted them to change to a working visa. While the ban was on, Filipinas entered Singapore via Brunei. The Contemplacion case resulted in the creation of the Gancayco Commission which undertook a fact finding on alleged government negligence, and the plight of all overseas Filipinos. Migrants' organizations and NGOs took an active role in the process. The Commission did find basis for the charge of negligence. Then Secretary of Labor as well as her counterpart at the Department of Foreign Affairs resigned. Welfare officers in the Philippine Embassy were re-assigned to other countries. To further appease the Filipino people, Congress enacted R.A. 8042 and ratified the UN Convention for the Protection of the Rights of All Migrants and Members of their Families. R.A. represents a compromise of the interests of various stakeholders- the government, recruiters, migrants ' organizations and NGOs. Hence, one finds contradictory provisions, sometimes within the same section. What migrants and NGOs generally claim to be the fruit of their lobbying include a) the recognition and protection of the rights of all migrants, regardless of legal status; b) the expanded definition of illegal recruitment which recruiters want amended; c) gender sensitivity as a guiding policy to be observed by all agencies concerned with labor migration; and d) the services the government commits to provide overseas workers. Barely a year after its enactment, migrants' organizations and NGOs began calling for amendments. Their critique revolves around the contradictory provisions, deregulation, the neglect of the sea-based sector, and the absence of provisions for women survivors of violence abroad, and for reintegration. Also criticised was the absence of government funds for the programs and services for overseas workers. The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration is often the source of funds. This meant that workers, not the government, were to pay for their own needs. But government would get the credit.

�� 13

�� Denial of Overseas Employment As A Policy Governments of labor-sending Asian countries look up to the Philippines as a model in labor migration . This is because of its 31 years of experience in the field, resulting in a relatively developed legal and policy framework, and corresponding political and social infrastructure. But, until now, the Philippine government insists overseas employment is not a policy. The official position is that people move to where jobs are. Thus, government's role is to manage this movement. Section 2 (c) of the Declaration of Policies, of Republic Act No. 8042 (Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995) states that “ while recognizing the significant contribution of Filipino migrant workers to the national economy through their foreign exchange remittances, the State does not promote overseas employment as a means to sustain economic growth and achieve national development.” In the same section, the government states “…the deployment of Filipino overseas workers, whether landbased or sea-based by local service contractors and manning agencies employing them shall be encouraged. Appropriate incentives may be extended to them.” ( Sec. 2 (i)) Non-governmental organizations and organizations of overseas Filipino/a workers (OFWs), their families and returned workers have long called on the government to stop denying that overseas employment is a policy. They assert that overseas employment has long been a de facto government policy. The government does not only manage migration. It also recruits and deploys workers abroad. It benefits tremendously from foreign exchange from workers' remittances. As such, the government is duty-bound to uphold the rights and interests of its workers abroad. �� Deregulation Sections 19 and 20 of R.A. 8042 provide for the phaseout of the regulatory powers of the POEA. Employment would be a private matter between employer and employee. And according to RA 8042 , the best protection of the worker is possession of skills. The assumption at the time the law was enacted was that the Philippines would become an economic tiger by year 2000 . And therefore, the market could regulate itself. But the economic take off did not happen. Hence, NGOs and migrants' organizations assert that deregulation should not be enforced. Enforcing it is an abdication by the state of "its accountability and responsibility for the protection of the rights and interests of its workers." (29). Worse, it institutionalizes the commodification of workers. POEA says deregulation would only mean debureaucratization, ie. eliminating red tape to expedite the deployment of workers. But, there are disturbing signs that indicate deregulation goes beyond that. And that workers' rights are the first to be sacrificed to market forces. Consider basic realities about the nature of the labor export industry. The industry is market driven. The Philippine government, and the recruitment and manning industries

�� 14

respond to the demands of the foreign labor market. Secondly, the market determines labor standards and takes precedence in practice over any other considerations such as the protection of the rights of OFWs. Earlier employment standards have been reduced to mere guidelines by POEA's new rules . An example is the US$200 monthly minimum wage the government has mandated years ago for domestic workers. But there are countries such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where employers do not pay this minimum wage. The government is aware of the discrepancy between what is stated in the contract and the actual pay of domestic workers. But it looks the other way. It has even proposed at one point to reduce the minimum wage to make it realistic,i.e. based on market realities. Thirdly, selective deployment, as provided for by RA 8042, to countries where workers' rights are recognized and protected, has not been observed. Saudi Arabia remains to be the top country of destination. So are Kuwait and the UAE. Deployment has taken precedence over workers' rights. �� New OWWA Omnibus Policies The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration is a "membership welfare institution" (30) Every legally deployed worker contributes US$25.00 to OWWA per signed contract. The amount should be paid by the employer. But rarely , if at all, has this happened. In 2003, OWWA made major changes in its policies covering OFW entitlements, drawing protests from migrants organizations and NGOs. This came in the wake of other controversies such as the transfer of the OWWA Medicare to PhilHealth, and the reported loss of over P40 million from June 26-July 26,2003 to bogus Medicare claims allegedly done by a syndicate within OWWA. In pursuit of fund viability, OWWA made major changes in its policies. One change involved the definition of a member. In the past, membership was for life. Under the new policies, membership is co-terminus with the contract. The policies also prescribe a time during which benefits may be claimed. A member who gets fired abroad, or completes her/his contract , and returns to the Philippines has only a maximum of six months to file for claims . Further, OWWA scrapped its General Financial Assistance Program which provided medical and burial assistance (P2,000-P15,000) to members, including those who have been in the Philippines for years. Workers coming home with ailments and disabilities have nowhere to go. An issue-based formation called SCOOP was formed by indignant migrants organizations and NGOs. It filed a motion for a restraining order but it was unsuccessful. Where SCOOP and other formations are concerned, OWWA does not live up to its value

�� 15

statement, to wit " OWWA commits to a fund stewardship that is transparent, judicious, and responsive to the requirements of member overseas Filipino workers." (31) �� Absence of a comprehensive socio-economic reintegration policy and program A recent study by the Asian Development Bank revealed that OFW remittances are used mainly for excessive consumption rather than invested to make money grow and serve as a driver of economic reform. (32) The government contributes to this with its promotion of duty-free shops. It does not encourage savings mobilization. Neither does it provide a policy environment for productive utilization of remittances. There is no coherent reintegration policy. Efforts at economic work by the lead agency, OWWA, remain at the level of providing families of OFWs with loans to enable them to set up sari-sari stores now called " OFW Groceria". 2.4. Political-Economic and Social Issues Four major political-economic and social issues surrounding international labor migration are : a) the inability of the government to build an economy that is strong enough to provide decent work in the homeland; b) the lack of political will of the government to uphold the rights and interests of OFWs, specially women; c) commodification of workers ; and d) the social costs of migration. Labour Export: A Dubious Pillar in Economic Development Progressive NGOs and OFW organizations have long called on the government to re-think its neoliberal economic paradigm because it has only exacerbated people’s impoverishment, and made labour export an economic pillar. They have expressed concern over the risks to life and limb that OFWs assume in various stages of the migration cycle as well as the social costs of labour export. In the short-term, propose the productive utilization of remittances as a way of developing the economy. Fernando Aldaba, Ph.D, Chair of the Department of Economics, Ateneo de Manila University , has recommended the ploughing of remittances into supporting the more than 800,000 small and medium-sized enterprises in the country. (33) Lack of Political Will by the Government in the Consistent Protection of OFW Rights Despite its relatively pro-migrant rhetoric, its package of OFW entitlements, programs and services, government response in the face of violations of migrants’ rights has not always been appropriate, timely, gender-sensitive, and rights-based . It has been ineffective in the enforcement of laws, policies, rules and regulation on labor migration. The most blatant examples are the continuing illegal exaction of placement fees by recruitment agencies, illegal recruitment, even by legal agencies, and trafficking in women and children facilitated by immigration personnel reportedly on the payroll of traffickers.

�� 16

Recruitment and placement agencies are authorized to collect only the equivalent of a month's salary of the job applied for. But, the actual fee they collect is at least twice as much. This is a major factor to migrant workers' indebtedness prior to departure. It is also why workers hang on to their job abroad at all costs. On-site, OFWs encounter various problems. The most common of which are contract violations such as non or under -payment of wages by employers, restrictive and discriminatory laws on migrants such as the Conditions of Stay for foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong , absence of redress mechanisms , violence against women migrants, specifically domestic workers and entertainers, eg. beatings, rape, deprivation of food and access to communication, threats of dismissal, verbal abuse, and reproductive health issues: eg. pregnancy means automatic loss of job for domestic workers. Then, there are the occupational health and safety issues. Distance form the bosom of loved ones and being in a foreign culture,subjected to maltreatment have led to emotional and psychological problems among women migrants. Stress, exposure to chemicals, long and difficult work hours have resulted in physical conditions such as Stevens Johnson Syndrome, and various forms of cancer. HIV-AIDS is also becoming a major health concern among overseas workers. As in pregnancy, a serious medical condition automatically leads to termination . Amidst these, the first place OFWs in distress would seek succour from is the Philippine embassy or consulate. The latter or even the national government would make representations with the appropriate body . But, somehow, OFWs and NGOs sense there is not enough effort and political will exerted by the government to work for pro-migrant policies, and just living and working conditions in destination countries. NGOs have documented cases where OFWs complained of indifference and neglect by Philippine embassy and consular officials and personnel. The latter have not been fully supportive to OFWs in their quest for justice against abuse and exploitation .More so, if the quest for justice would jeopardize diplomatic relations. Thus, OFWs usually give a higher rating to assistance rendered by churches, church-based organizations, NGOs and Filipino organizations than that of Philippine agencies, embassies and consulates. Commodification of Workers As discussed in the earlier section, government policy and practice seem to prioritize labour competitiveness over workers’ rights. Workers are treated no better than any export product. The commodification of workers is manifested in the following: �� Removal of worker's protection as exemplified by deregulation �� Diminution of workers' benefits and entitlements in favour of global competitiveness

and greater profit for companies. An illustrative case is Department Order No. 04 of the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) effective June 25, 2000.

�� 17

Amending certain provisions of POEA's Rules on the Standard Terms and Conditions Governing the Employment of Filipino Seafarers on Board Ocean-Going Vessels, Sec. 20 states : "If a Filipino seafarer dies on board the vessel, his family could not claim any benefit unless the cause of his death was established to be work-related." This is contained in the standard employment contract of seafarers. (34)

The latest example would be the new Omnibus Policies of OWWA .

�� The dismissive attitude of labor officials to the issue of violence against women migrants

The Network Opposed to Violence Against Women Migrants (NOVA), a coalition of NGOs addressing migration issues and women's organizations/networks states that " Gender violence against overseas Filipinas is a serious and urgent issue that the Philippine government must address. In the past, it has encountered labor officials who, when presented with the issue of violence against women dismissed it as "statistically insignificant" or " lower than what occurs here in the Philippines". (35) The classic example remains to be the remark of then Secretary of Foreign Affairs on reports of Filipina domestic workers being raped by Iraqi soldiers during the Iran-Iraq war in 1991 : "If rape is inevitable, just lie back and enjoy it."

Consistent with the dismissive attitude, the government seems to be undereporting on violence. Or if the data are true, they indicate that fewer women run to the Philippine Embassy or Consulate compared to those who seek help from NGOs. OWWA data from 1997-2000 showed it assisted a total of 1,377 maltreated overseas Filipino workers , 848 runaways, and 165 prostituted women. In 1999 alone, the Hong Kong -based Domestic Helpers and Migrant Workers' Programme of Christian Action assisted 7,000 foreign domestic workers, mostly Filipinas.(36)

The lack of gender sensitivity among most of the officials and personnel of frontline offices such as the POEA, OWWA and the DFA is also indicative of government indifference to gender issues.

�� Trafficking in women and children

Based on data of government agencies, the Coalition against Trafficking in Women-Asia-Pacific recorded in 2003 a total of 6,298 cases of trafficking in 12 regions. Southern Philippines is the usual source as well as exit for those bound for Malaysia. Girls as young as 14 years are lured by traffickers with promises of high-paying jobs in restaurants or clubs only to end up in brothels. A major concern in the deployment of OPAs to Japan is the prostitution of OPAs. “Entertainment” has been stretched by unscrupulous bar owners and syndicates controlling the industry to include prostitution. A recent response by the Japanese government is to amend its immigration policy to make it more difficult to would-be

�� 18

OPAs to obtain a working visa. But, without, addressing the demand side of the entertainment industry, this move is expected to be futile. The Philippine government recently enacted an Anti-Trafficking Law after more than a decade of lobbying by women's organizations and networks. As in any law, the test of its effectiveness is in its enforcement. And this is where the government usually fails. One major obstacle has always been the absence of a budgetary allocation.

�� The TESDA-JITCO Training Program

The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and the Japan International Training Company has an joint training program involving the deployment of Filipinos as trainees to Japanese firms such as Canon and Nitto Denko. This is supposed to be a" transfer of technology " arrangement. College graduates, usually in engineering and related technical courses are recruited and deployed. In Japan, the trainees are made to perform manual and janitorial jobs. There is no transfer of technology. Despite repeated complaints from former trainees, TEDSDA continues with the program.

�� Costly trainings of seafarers

Various trainings are required to ensure competence of seafarers that cost between P900 to 3,000 each such as the Advanced Fire Fighting, Prevention on Drug Abuse for the Maritime Sector, and even Maritime English! Filipino seafarers are said to be "over-documented and over-certified." (37)

�� Absence of any form of social security for overseas workers

Hailed as "Bagong Bayani" (New Heroes/Heroines) for their remittances, OFWs fade into oblivion upon return to the Philippines. This is particularly stark in the case of women survivors of violence, the sick and unsuccessful. In times of need, they cannot depend on the government, except perhaps for the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes which gives medical assistance.

In the case of families of OFWs with HIV/AIDS, they request the government to provide them with pension funds.

Social Costs of Labour Migration The exodus of nurses, among them former doctors who shifted to take advantage of the demand, is anticipated to lead to a full-blown crisis in the health care system by 2006. The country has 418 nurses for every 10,000. (38) Another social cost is de-skilling of professionals. Many Filipina workers in domestic work abroad are college graduates. The same is true for college graduates who become “trainees “ in Japan or South Korea, doing manual labour.

�� 19

A third social cost is the adverse impact of labour migration on Filipino families, specially children. Families break up under pressure of separation, with one or both parties taking up with new partners. Male overseas workers, in particular, stop sending financial support to their families in the Philippines when they get involved in new relationships. Thus, a newly emerging phenomenon is the increasing number of wives of OFWs who seek the assistance of the government and of NGOs to pressure their husbands to send financial support. At least two million children grew up, are growing up without one or both parents. While children appreciate the financial benefits of migration, they acknowledge that money cannot compensate for the absence of parental love and guidance. Hence, they turn to their peer groups or to a significant other . Some fall into bad company, go into substance abuse, or marry prematurely. Grandparents who should be enjoying their retirement years are left with the burden of taking care of young grandchildren. III. Actors in the Promotion and Protection of the Rights and Welfare of

Overseas Filipino/a Workers, Nature of Programs and Services, and Areas of Cooperation

A. Major Trends in ILM Work By Decades 1980s The '80s saw the emergence of major non-governmental organizations (Center for Overseas Workers, KAIBIGAN, KANLUNGAN, BATIS Center for Women) that responded to the immediate needs and problems of overseas Filipino workers and their families in the migration cycle- from pre-migration, to on-site to return. The NGOs viewed international labor migration (ILM) not as isolated from but rather as the consequence of the government's inappropriate economic development model Thus, the responses ranged from direct support , to awareness-raising , organizing of families of OFWs and returnees (eg. KAKAMMPPI), to policy advocacy. Direct support meant legal assistance, and information giving to migrants in pursuit of justice to violations committed against them. Since recruiters have a joint and solidary liability with employers, returning workers can file a labor case against their recruiters in lieu of employers. Legal assistance within the developmental legal advocacy framework veered from the traditional lawyer-client relationship marked by a hierarchical relationship and the lawyer doing everything for the client. It stressed the partnership between lawyer and client, the own agency of the client in case resolution, and the use of advocacy, specially policy advocacy . Such was the kind of legal assistance that KAIBIGAN began and KANLUNGAN continued . Education of workers and communities on the structural bases of ILM were integral to the work. So was advocacy. Campaigns were undertaken to pressure the government to

�� 20

act on cases ,and to recognize and protect the rights of OFWs. The plight of women domestic workers, specially in West Asian countries like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait hogged headlines. The government usually responded with a ban which was not effectively enforced. Thus, such bans only drove women to use irregular channels for labor migration. Overseas workers themselves, specifically those in Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia did their own campaign against Executive Order 857 which required OFWs to remit their money through government channels. A penalty clause provided for sanctions against those who did not comply. The coordinated campaign in Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia resulted in the repeal of the penalty clause. Thus, while E.0. 857 remains, it no longer has teeth. In the late 80s, the Women In Development Foundation Inc. was one of the first NGOs to go full-time into the conduct of the Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar. PDOS is a government requirement for all departing workers. POEA accredits PDOS_giving organizations. 1990s The '90s saw intensified policy advocacy for the protection of the rights of workers, specially women. Mass media featured stories of abuse and exploitation of women. Women came home from abroad in boxes.- eg. Maricris Sioson from Japan, the scientist Victoria Suller from India . Then there was the case of Flor Contemplacion. And Sarah Balabagan, a 15 year old domestic worker in the United Arab Emirates who would have been raped by her male employer had she not killed him first. Sarah was sentenced to death. But international pressure stayed her execution. It also gave birth to networks that brought together migrants' organizations and NGOs , (MIGRANTE, before it transformed itself into a mass-based organization, and the Philippine Migrants Rights Watch), migrants rights NGOs and women's organizations (Network Opposed to Violence Against Women Migrants), migrants' organizations, trade unions, women's organizations (eg. Alliance of Migrants and Advocates for the Amendment of R.A. 8042 or AMEND) . At the regional level, the Migrant Forum in Asia was established with three members from the Philippines- Unlad Kabayan, KAKAMMPI and KANLUNGAN. The mid-90s witnessed the expansion of work among OFWs to include socio-economic initiatives by former OFWs as well as by communities of OFW families, HIV/AIDS and reproductive rights. In 1997, Kalayaan, a feminist organization, undertook research on HIV/AIDS and labour mobility as part of a regional research project headed by CARAM-ASIA. One model in community-based socio-economic initiatives is the pioneering work on reintegration of Unlad Kabayan Migrant Services Foundation Inc. (1996). Unlad implemented its Migrants Savings and Alternative Investments (MSAI) program in

�� 21

selected communities as a way of preparing the worker abroad and his/her family in the Philippines for the former's return. The program involved value formation, awareness raising, organizing among workers abroad (through partner NGOs), and families of OFWs in the Philippines and enterprise development. A second model is the work of KANLUNGAN in La Union which began in 1996 . It started out with organizing community-based structures of care in communities with a concentration of families with members working abroad. The objective was for communities to be able to address labor migration issues on their own, and engage the local and national governments for the protection of the rights of workers. Local governments, afterall, actively seek out financial assistance from their overseas constituents for infrastructure projects. But they have not been able to respond adequately nor effectively to problems arising from labor migration. One gain is the community-based mental health program in one town with a number of constituents with mental health problems upon return from overseas employment. Said program is now managed mainly by the organization of families of residents with mental health concerns with support from the local government and Kanlungan Centre. . The mid-90s was also a time for addressing children's concerns. KAKAMMPI and ATIKHA pioneered in this area. BATIS began expanding its work to include the issues of Japanese-Filipino children, eg. denial by Japan of nationality if the fathers do not recognize them, and non-support of Japanese fathers. 2000- In 2000, the Action for Health Initiatives (Achieve), Inc. spun off from Kalayaan, and continued the mission of addressing the needs and problems of OFWs and families who contract and who might be vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. The new millenium also ushered in intensified interest in reintegration. Unlad's framework is now MSAI for Community Development and Reintegration. A network called the Philippine Council for Comprehensive Reintegration (PhilCORE) brought together the government through OWWA and NGOs such as Unlad. It co-sponsored an international conference on reintegration in 2003. Another approach to reintegration is KANLUNGAN's "Five Pillars to Local Economy Development" in the town of Naguilian, La Union. The brainchild of a rural banker, Mr. Andres G. Panganiban, this approach involves partnership building among the local government, organizations of OFWs, their families in the Philippines, NGOs and financial institutions . The partnership should lead to a town development plan that would address strategic socio-economic concerns and lead to sustainable development. Areas for investments by OFWs would be identified and promoted. Families would be encouraged to save and invest . With local economic opportunities , the pressure to work abroad would hopefully be reduced. And those working abroad would be able to plan their return.

�� 22

Another feature of the new millenium , thus, far, is the serious and sustained engagement in legislative lobby of NGOs, and the fruits of such efforts. The campaign for the passage of the Absentee Voting Bill led by Ms. Ellene Sana, then of KAKAMMPPI, later of the Center for Migrant Advocacy, brought together organizations in the Philippines and abroad. Overseas workers themselves actively took part in the lobby through the internet. Thus, in the 2004 elections, overseas workers were eligible to vote for the first time. But, registration of voters had a low turnout for various reasons. The repeal of Secs. 29 and 30 of RA 8042 almost made it to the last and final hearing in the Senate during the 12th Congress. But, one senator blocked its inclusion in the agenda on a technicality. Thus, the repeal bill had to go through step 1 all over again in the current Congress. In 2004, Congress enacted the Anti-Trafficking Law . A third feature is the engagement of organizations of OFW families and former migrants in local governance as exemplified by the Bannuar Ti La Union experience. Last, but not the least, the programmatic involvement of labour centers on the issues of labor migration. The Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino sent an organizer to Hong Kong in 2003 in partnership with a Hong Kong labour union. Two years later, the Alliance of Progressive Labor sent its own organizer . This model is discussed in a succeeding section. B. Key Actors and What They Do The key actors in international labour migration in the Philippines are a) the families of OFWs and former OFWs; b) organizations of migrant workers; c) non-profit, non-government organizations; d) Catholic Church-based organizations; and e) networks. Majority of the key actors described herein are among the progressive, genuinely pro-migrant formations in the sector. However, differences in the analysis of Philippine society and the nature of the current government have led to divisions among their ranks. In the last presidential elections, KAIBIGAN and KAKAMPPI campaigned for Pres. Gloria M. Arroyo. This as well as subsequent positions on national and migration-related issues have set them apart from others who do not support the current government. MIGRANTE International –APME stands apart from other migrants’ rights formations in the conduct of its work, patricularly campaigns . It usually partners only with the Kilusang Mayo Uno, Gabriela, Bayan Muna and other fraternal organizations. It views any form of socio-economic work as reformist. Before it set up its own party-list, it also labeled legislative advocacy as reformist.

�� 23

The others organizations are able to work together, albeit on an issue-to-issue basis. The repeal of Sections 29 and 30 is able to generate support from the broadest number of organizations. So does the issue of the OWWA Omnibus Policies. The Catholic Church organizations such as ECMI part ways with others, specially those with a feminist perspective, on the issue of women migrant workers’ reproductive rights. Notwithstanding their differences, the various actors have made significant contributions to the promotion and protection of the rights and welfare of OFWs and their families. Philippines . A number of them have evolved creative, innovative and empowering strategies despite limited staff (an average of 5- 12 ) and resources. Families of Overseas Workers and Former Overseas Workers Families of overseas workers and returned workers are the primary articulators of the issues, concerns and interests of OFWs. Their organizations are involved in advocacy work with a) the Philippine government both at the national and local levels, b) foreign embassies; and c) the United Nations through its various units such as such as the International Labor Organization. They are also engaged in socio-economic work. �� Batis-Association of Women in Action for Rights and Empowerment (Batis- AWARE). Batis-AWARE is composed of former overseas performing artists (OPAs) who had worked in Japan and suffered various forms of abuse and violence. . It began as a cultural group that performed in various advocacy fora to project the life, risks, and struggles of OPAs in Japan. It is now a full-fledged organization autonomous from Batis Center Inc. One of its objectives is to help provide income to former OPAs. At present, it is managing a sewing project. �� Kapisanan ng mga Kamag-Anak ng Migranteng Manggagawang Pilipino, Inc. (Kakammpi Inc.). Established in 1983, Kakammpi is the first significant community-based organization of families of OFWs and returned OFWs. Aside from 2 Metro-Manila chapters, it has also organized chapters Lagawe (Ifugao Province), Mabalacat (Pampanga) and Zamboanga province . Its conduct of Pre-employment Orientation Seminars facilitates reaching out to families of OFWs and chapter-building in different provinces. In response to the adverse impact of the absence of one or both parents on children left behind, Kakammpi conducts awareness-building and organizing activities with youth and children. It also operates community-based day-care centers . Kakammpi has been an initiator and participant in many mass actions such as demonstrations and pickets in front of government agencies and foreign embassies concerned. It was in the forefront of the successful campaign for the enactment of the Absentee Voting Bill in 2003. It had strong links with organizations of overseas Filipinos in Europe and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. However, organizational

�� 24

problems led to a separation of ways among contending groups, the loss of some organizational partners in the Philippines and abroad, and an erosion of credibility. Kakammpi uses broadcast and print media to inform migrant workers and their families, their rights and entitlements, to project the latest issues in international labor migration, and to offer advice on specific problems and concerns, particularly related to labor migration, HIV-AIDS, and reproductive health. It has three radio programs and maintains a column in 4 publications . It is a member of major formations of NGOs addressing related issues such as reproductive health, and HIV/AIDS.. �� Bannuar Ti La Union (Heroes of La Union): Bannuar was formed in 2001, the product of the provincial consultation of OFW families and returnees co-sponsored by KANLUNGAN Centre Foundation Inc. and the Office of the Governor of La Union Province. A year later, it was transformed into a federation of associations/organizations of municipal federations. Majority of its officers are women who had worked abroad. Bannuar engages local government units at the provincial and municipal levels on the issue of the promotion and protection of the rights and interests of OFWs. Engagement in local governance represents a new strategy in the promotion of the rights and welfare of OFWs. Local governments, like the national government, have benefitted directly from the presence of their constituents abroad. Regional,provincial, and/or town-based OFW organizations send money to build a church or support the local government's beautification projects. Because of its advocacy work, Bannuar sits in the Provincial Development Council as the voice of OFWs and their families. It heads the Partnership Development Committee. At the municipal level, the local governments of Bauang and Naguilian approved Bannuar's proposal to establish a Migrant Workers Assistance Center. They provided office space as well as computer units and a telephone. Bannuar and its member-organizations/associations provide information to communities on international labor migration, the rights and entitlements of OFWs and their families. They are also into livelihood projects . Bannuar-Naguilian represents the OFW families in KANLUNGAN Centre's pilot project on " Building the Local Economy of Naguilian " which involves partnership building among five pillars, i.e. OFWs, their families and returnees, local government, NGOs, and financial institutions such as rural banks. The pilot project (2003-06) has both reintegrative and preventive components. Migrants' Organizations �� KAIBIGAN ng OCWs (Overseas Contract Workers): Kaibigan started out as an NGO known as Kaibigan (Friends of Filipino Migrant Workers) Inc.,. It was the first NGO established in the early 80's in response to the problems spawned by international labor migration. And it was the Philippine partner of progressive overseas Filipino organizations and NGOs until the mid-90's. In 1998, Kaibigan transformed itself into a mass-based organization . Hence, the change in name and orientation. At present, it

�� 25

claims a base of 35,000 card-bearing members , majority of whom are recruited through the Pre-Departure Orientation Seminars (PDOS) Kaibigan conducts daily. Members also include returned members. Apart from PDOS, Kaibigan also provides free legal assistance and welfare services to prospective and returned workers . It has also set up a credit cooperative with a credit fund of P1 million. Members avail of loans for a variety of purposes- eg. placement fee, livelihood. Kaibigan is also into policy and legislative advocacy. One venue to pursue its advocacy work is the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC). Kaibigan's President, Engr. Noel Josue, is Chair of the Migrants Sector, one of three sub-sectors in NAPC's Formal Labor and Migrant Workers Council . Another venue is the Migrant NGO Forum which is composed of five PDOS-giving organizations.

Kaibigan has organizational links with the United Seafarers of the Philippines, a seafarers' union. Engr. Josue sits in UFS Board of Trustees. Kaibigan and UFS jointly undertake the PDOS for seafarers.

�� MARINO : The Mariners Association for Regional and International Networking is headed by Mr. Milton Unso, a seafarer for 25 years. It was set up in response to the practice of shipping companies and manning agencies of blacklisting seafarers who protested against poor working and living conditions aboard. But its strategic goal is generally the empowerment of seafarers through unionism. MARINO is primarily involved in education work among seafarers congregating on T.M. Kalaw in Manila, and families of seafarers. It conducts a Basic Orientation Seminar on trade unionism,, seafarers' rights and globalization. It also offers courses on trade union administration and social movement unionism. With the conduct of seminars goes recruitment of membership. MARINO, however, does not collect fees. It is working toward the time when it can be in a position to enter into collective bargaining agreements with shipowners to better protect the rights of seafarers. MARINO is active in policy and legislative advocacy. It is a member of AMEND where it joins forces with land-based workers' support NGOs and women's NGOs. Since 2002, it has been holding mass actions against the new POEA contract for seafarers. Among the latter's objectionable provisions are a) "age limit of 35 and 35 years for able seamen and master seafarers respectively, b) the numerous and redundant trainings required" and c) injury,disability and death of a seafarer must be clearly established as work-related before compensation is given. (39) �� MIGRANTE International : MIGRANTE International is a "global alliance" of overseas Filipinos with " 95 member organizations in 22 countries " founded in December 1996. (40 ) It is the product of efforts to organize and unite overseas

�� 26

Filipino/as that began in 1985 with the formation of the Committee for the Unity of Overseas Filipinos. It started out as MIGRANTE-APME (Asia-Pacific-Middle East) in the early 1990s with KANLUNGAN Centre as its Secretariat. Also among its original members were BATIS, KAIBIGAN and KAKAMMPI. A parting of ways took place between MIGRANTE and the three cited organizations in 1994. It was the first crack in the previously potent network of NGOs and migrants organizations here and abroad that advanced the interests of overseas Filipinos, and linked the struggle of migrants to the national struggle for genuine sovereignty, democracy and social justice.

MIGRANTE is into organizing and education of overseas Filipinos and their families in the Philippines. It produces informative materials and a quarterly newsletter called " Pahayagang Migrante" and " Migrant Monitor. " It also engages in campaigns related to migrants' rights issues as well as national issues such as privatization, and oil price hike. Campaigns is one area where MIGRANTE links up with its partner labor centers here and abroad (eg. Hong Kong, South Korea and Rome, Italy.). Its key partner in the Philippines is the Kilusang Mayo Uno (May 1st Movement) In the last three years, MIGRANTE has been doing legislative advocacy. It even set up its own party-list, MIGRANTE Sectoral Party, which fielded candidates in last year's elections. But the party lost. In relation to OFW issues, MIGRANTE works with the Anak Pawis sectoral party, Rep. Crisprin Beltran. Specific to women' migrants' issues, it links up with the GABRIELA sectoral party. According to its Chairperson, Connie Regalado, the repeal of Secs. 29 and 30 is a priority advocacy issue. So is the amendment of the Labor Code. MIGRANTE is also concerned with the monitoring of the implementation of Japan's new immigration policies affecting overseas performing artists. Major NGOs

�� Action for Health Initiatives Inc. (Achieve). Achieve was set up in January 2000 to address the issue of HIV/AIDS among OFWs and their families. It started as a participatory research organization and eventually expanded to include community-based education and training, and policy advocacy . Last year, it conducted a national workshop as part of its Spouses and Partners Empowerment Program. The participants included female spouses of seafarers, some coming from the Seamen’s Wives Association of the Philippines-Manila .

�� ATIKHA Overseas Workers and Communities Initiative: ATIKHA was set up in 1996 to provide social and economic services to overseas Filipinos and their families. Its vision is of " overseas Filipino workers reintegrating with families and communities and serving as engine for sustainable development. " (41) Atikha has two pilot areas in Southern Luzon - San Pablo City in Laguna, and Mabini in Batangas. San Pablo has an estimated 20,000 constituents working abroad, Mabini 5,000, majority in Rome, Italy.

�� 27

Among the innovative initiatives of ATIKHA are a) the formation of Koop Balikabayani International, a credit cooperative set up by OFW, their families and returnees, and the Batang Atikha Savers Club among children of OFWs; b) the conduct of Family Orientation Seminars, Enterprise Development Seminars; c) advocacy with the local government that resulted in the creation of a Coordinating Council on Overseas Filipino Affairs in San Pablo and in Mabini. The Council helps formulate a five-year plan for enterprise development. ATIKHA was also one of the organizers of the First National Conference on Reintegration in April 2002.

�� Batis Center for Women : Batis Center for Women started in mid-1989 as an NGO assisting women workers from Japan. It was the brainchild of the late Violeta "Bullet" Marasigan, an activist social worker and ex-political detainee then working with the National Council of Churches of the Philippines. Batis offers psycho-social services such as feminist counselling, legal assistance, and medical referrals to partner hospitals. In the mid-90's, it began to take up the issues of Japanese-Filipino children, i.e. non-recognition and non-support by Japanese fathers, and the denial of citizenship by the Japanese government. It has partner-legal organizations in Japan that search for the Japanese fathers, and use legal remedies to persuade the fathers to recognize their children and provide support. According to the Executive Director, Andrea Antolin, Batis has been receiving a number of labor-related cases (contract violations) this year as well as trafficking cases.

Cognizant of the lack of income among women returnees, Batis ventured into social enterprise. In 1995, it organized a sewing group that produces among others bags, and cloth pencil cases. Three years later, it went into candle making. Candlemaking paid the women P275.00 a day. However, this enterprise stopped in 2004 because of problems in quality control. A major accomplishment of Batis has been the organization of women returnees into Batis-AWARE.

The advocacy agenda of Batis is currently focused on the implementing mechanisms of the new immigration policies of Japan that reduces the number of overseas performing artists (OPAs) it will receive annually and increases the qualifications of OPAs. In cooperation with Batis AWARE, it also targets women migrants and children through its theatre advocacy work. It goes to communities and public high schools to perform and in the process educate them about the risks involved in overseas migration, specially to Japan. �� Center for Migrants Advocacy (CMA). The Center for Migrants Advocacy is Barely three years old. But its Executive Director, Ms. Ellene Sana, has been in labor migration work for more than a decade. She is well known among government officials

�� 28

as an advocate and lobbyist. With this well-established connection, she is able to refer cases of migrant workers to no less than the agency heads. CMA is primarily an advocacy NGO. It promotes the rights of not only workers and their families but also those of Filipino immigrants and their families through policy and legislative advocacy, information dissemination, networking and capability building. It has extensive linkages with Filipino organizations in West Asia and Europe, specifically the Netherlands,and Greece. Quarterly , it sponsors the Alfred J. Ganapin Advocacy Forum Series on cutting edge topics on labor migration. Its last forum discussed migrant labor and trade union cooperation. Current priority advocacy issues of CMA are the amendment of the Absentee Voting Law, the repeal of Secs 29 and 30, and the scrapping of the OWWA Omnibus Policies. AT the international arena, GATS Mode 4 is a priority issue for advocacy. CMA is also presently engaged in a signature campaign , as part of the campaign of the Philippine Migrants Rights Watch (PMRW) to prove that it is workers who pay the US$25 membership fee to OWWA, not their employers. �� Development Action for Women Network (DAWN): DAWN was established in 1996 under the leadership of a former Executive Director of BATIS Center, Ms. Carmelita Nuqui. Like the latter, DAWN addresses the issues and concerns of Filipina bound for or already in Japan and those returning, as well as those of children arising from Filipino-Japanese relationships. DAWN also has an alternative livelihood program , Sikap Buhay or Sikhay. Sikhay, Filipino for " striving for a better life", consists of three project: sewing, handloom and tie-dye. It has also facilitated the organization of a theatre group composed of Japanese-Filipino children . This group has had successful performances locally as well as in Japan. DAWN is also active in policy and legislative advocacy. Its priority issue now is the new immigration policies of Japan . Ms. Nuqui is currently the President of the Philippine Migrants Rights Watch. �� KANLUNGAN Centre Foundation Inc.: KANLUNGAN was established in July 1989 by KAIBIGAN (Friends of Filipino Migrant Workers) in cooperation with two feminist organizations -GABRIELA and the Women's Resource and Research Center, the International Affairs Desk of the National Council of Churches of the Philippines, KAKAMMPI, and several individuals with experience in international labor migration. KANLUNGAN offers an integrative approach to the issues confronting OFWs and their families. At the individual level, it offers legal aid, feminist counseling, education on workers’ rights, and welfare assistance to prospective, on-site and returning workers and their families . The core objective is to facilitate claim-making from recruitment

�� 29

agencies and the government as part of obtaining justice . For women, feminist counseling helps them reclaim their dignity and self-worth, and inspires them to assert their rights in both personal and public domains. KANLUNGAN organizes community-based structures of care in Metro-Manila where there is a concentration of OFW families and ex-OFWs . This is to enable communities to address problems arising from international labour migration on their own, and get them involved in policy and legislative advocacy. In La Union where it has a regional office, it has facilitated the formation of a provincial federation of former OFWs and OFW families- BANNUAR TI LA UNION, and the Timpuyog Ti Agkakabsat which manages a community-based mental health program. In 2003, KANLUNGAN piloted the concept of spurring the local economy in cooperation with four other pillars so communities would eventually have other options apart from overseas employment . The project site is the town of Naguilian, La Union. . KANLUNGAN is also engaged in policy and legislative advocacy, and research and publications. It produces a quarterly newsletter called "Trend, News and Tidbits (T.N.T.), an annual "Fast Facts on Filipino Labor Migration", and information packets/handouts on workers' rights, and various aspects of claimmaking. Advocacy work is pursued in partnership with other organizations such as AMEND and NOVA. It facilitated the crafting of an omnibus amendatory bill by the Alliance of Migrants and Advocates to Amend RA 8042 (AMEND). Its priority advocacy issues are the repeal of Secs. 29 and 30, the scrapping of the OWW Omnibus Policies as well as the TESDA-JITCO Trainee Program. According to Ms Maya Bans-Cortina, Officer-in-charge, Kanlungan is also doing special projects with OFW children such as the conduct of art workshops, and values formation. �� Unlad-Kabayan Migrant Services Foundation Inc. Unlad started as a program of the Hong Kong -based Asian Migrant Center. It became a full-blown NGO in 1996 with the return to the Philippines of AMC's founding Executive Director, Ms. May An Villalba. Unlad was the first NGO with economic reintegration as core program. It envisions a self-reliant society which is able to mobilize local resources, thereby reducing demand for imported goods. Savings mobilization is a vital component of a capital build up program in the country. Policy and legislative advocacy is also a domain of Unlad. Catholic Church-based Organizations �� Apostleship of the Sea (AOS) : AOS-Philippines addresses the needs and concerns of seafarers. Headed by a Scalabrini priest, it coordinates regional centers in key cities in

�� 30

the country, including Manila, Cebu and Davao. It is into advocacy, provision of legal services, pastoral care of seafarers and families, and research and publications. �� Center for Overseas Workers (COW). The Center for Overseas Workers was set up in 1982. It is headed by Sr. Bernadette who is a member of the Religious of the Good Shepherd. It is one of several NGOs that have been accredited by the government to conduct daily Pre-Departure Orientation Seminars (PDOS), specially for women bound for Hong Kong and Taiwan. Apart from PDOS, COW also conducts pre-employment information campaigns . It is also actively engaged in policy and legislative advocacy. �� Episcopal Commission for Migrants and Itinerant Peoples (ECMI). ECMI is one of the commissions under the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines. A Filipino priest now serves as Executive Secretary after more than a decade of leadership by foreign Scalabrini priests. ECMI has a national network of regional and diocesan migration desks that offer pastoral care and social services to people on the move. It is engaged in research, advocacy, and formation for OFWs to be effective witnesses of the Gospel. �� Scalabrini Migration Center .The Scalabrini Migration Center is managed by the Scalabrini Fathers, a religious congregation whose mission is people on the move. It is primarily a research institution. It has conducted and published local, regional and international researches and analytical papers on socio-economic and political dimensions of international labor migration. It is also into advocacy. As one of the founders as well as the Secretariat of the Philippine Migrants Rights Watch, SMC is active in policy and legislative advocacy. SMC has a library that offers a good collection of literature on international labor migration. Networks Migrants' organizations and NGOs combine forces in advancing the rights and interests of OFWs . Major networks now are the following: �� Alliance of Migrant Workers and Advocates to Amend R.A. 8042 (AMEND). AMEND is composed of at least fourteen migrants’ rights NGOs, women’s organizations, a party-list group and a labour center. Its crafted an omnibus amendatory bill for RA 8042 which has been filed at the House of Representatives. It leads the campaign for the repeal of Secs. 29 and 30. �� Network Opposed to Violence against Women Migrants (NOVA) . NOVA was a response by migrants rights NGOs and feminist organizations to the reported cases of deaths of women migrants under suspicious circumstances beginning with the death of

�� 31

Dr. Victoria Suller in India. . It does research on the incidence of violence against women migrants, the forms violence takes, and monitors government action. Its first research was the evaluation of government protection for women migrants based on the provisions of RA 8042. It gave the government a failing mark. NOVA makes representations with the Philippine government and with UN agencies on the issue of violence against women migrants. Annually, it leads the campaign dubbed as 16 Days of Activism to Eliminate Violence against Women Migrants starting on November 24 and culminating on Human Rights Day (December 10) . �� Philippine Migrant Rights Watch: Established in 1995, PMRW has a comprehensive mandate, i.e. to promote the rights and welfare of overseas workers and their families. It is engaged in policy and legislative advocacy, research and networking. It took an active role in the successful campaign for the enactment of the absentee voting bill. Last year, it organized an international conference on labor migration in Manila with fund support from the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. Summary The Multi-Strategy Response Framework of the Migrant Forum in Asia covers the range of initiatives undertaken by the key actors. This writer has taken the liberty to add to the target groups to represent the work done in the Philippines (in itals). Table No.10 Multi-Strategy Response Framework in Promoting and Protecting Migrants’ Rights Type Target

Group Interventions Organizations

1 : Upholding dignity, redress- ing violations

Migrant worker Family of migrant worker

Counselling, shelter, legal aid, education, claim making

All NGOs cited in this paper except Scalabrini Migration Center, and the networks Kakammpi, Kaibigan, Migrante

2 : Building collective capacity and actions

Migrant workers OFW families, former OFWs

Organizing, capability-building, education, socio-economic work (eg. income-generating projects, micro-finance, formation of cooperatives, community-based mental health program)

Achieve, Atikha, Batis, Dawn, Kanlungan Batis-Aware, Kakammpi, Kaibigan, Marino, Migrante (minus the socio-economic work for Migrante )

3 :Advocating just policies and conditions

Sector of OFWs Migrant workers in general The targets

Research Policy and legislative advocacy at the local, national and international levels (eg. Amendment of RA 8042, repeal of

All organizations and networks cited in this paper

�� 32

are local government, national government, governments of labor-receiving countries, UN agencies

discriminatory policies in Hong Kong, Japan etc.) Networking locally, nationally, regionally, internationally Campaigns (June 7 anniversary of RA 8042, 16 Days of Activism to Eliminate Violence against Women Migrants) Engagement in local governance (the Bannuar experience)

4: Addressing root causes and building alternatives

Society Awareness raising on the link between labour migration and national underdevelopment Model-building : >Five Pillars to Local Economy Development >Migrants Savings and Investments for Community Development and Reintegration.

At the advocacy level – Batis, Center for Migrant Advocacy, Center for Overseas Workers, Dawn, ECMI, Marino, Scalabrini Migration Center , all the networks Kaibigan, Migrante At the advocacy and building alternatives level: Kanlungan, Unlad Kabayan Bannuar ti La Union(Naguilian)

IV. Trade Union Involvement in Migrant Labor Sea-based workers are unionized. This is due to the structure of the maritime industry where unions are in a position to enter into collective bargaining agreements with shipping companies. The workers are thus covered by CBAs. However, all is not necessarily well. There are cases of non-observance of CBA provisions which seafarers protest against only for the latter to end up blacklisted by the shipping company, manning agency and union. MARINO was set up initially to protect the rights of such blacklisted seafarers. The Associated Marine Officers and Seamen's Union of the Philippines (AMOSUP) is reputedly the biggest union in the world with 85,000 members. It was formed in 1972 as a result of the merger of two unions, the Associated Marine Officers Union of the Philippines (AMOUP) and the Associated Seamen's Union of the Philippines (ASUP) . It is a member of the International Transport Workers Federation, and represents seafarers in the Governing Board of both POEA and OWWA. AMOSUP avers that "… in order to be competitive with other seafarer supplying countries, the Filipino Seamen should be well trained, disciplined, and hard working. In return, the seafarer should be justly compensated and given all necessary benefits to afford a decent living. " (42)

�� 33

In line with this, it set up and manages the Maritime Academy of Asia and the Pacific in Mariveles, Bataan. Its programs and services to qualified members and dependents include free hospitalization, treatment and medicine at the Seamen's Hospital , a tertiary facility with 100 beds in Manila, and 50 bed-capacity in Cebu. For land-based workers, trade unions have barely made a dent. The Philippines is said to have some of the most militant and dynamic trade unions in Asia, “where they have not only pushed worker's rights but shaped political history through their role in the country's popular uprisings.” (43) But, trade unions acknowledge their inability to respond to the plight of land-based overseas workers. "Marginal" ,i.e. very limited, sporadic, and on a case-to-case basis describes the extent of trade union involvement in issues of land-based workers. Mr. Joshua Mata, Secretary-General of the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) opines ideological inertia and organizational inertia have prevented trade unions from getting involved in labor migration issues. Unions have become used to the traditional way of organizing workers that they are unable to decipher how best to respond to the particularities of the situation of migrant workers. The hostile attitude of local workers in some destination countries was also discouraging. Lastly, there is the matter of finance. The cost of sending one organizer to Hong Kong, for instance, is equivalent to having five full-time organizers in the Philippines. (44) But, Mr. Mata thinks it is time to move forward and venture into union work among overseas workers with social movement unionism as strategy. Why OFWs should be unionized The Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) Vice President for International Affairs, Mr. Sonny Melencio, recognizes the need to unionize OFWs as a way of raising the level of wages and benefits so they can be at par with local workers in countries of destination. It is also an effective instrument for advocacy for policies and laws that are pro-migrants. Thirdly, there is the matter of forging solidarity between OFWs and local workers as members of the working class. OFWs must also know what the issues of workers are in the destination countries. Local workers,on the other hand, should stop viewing foreign workers as competitors, and as the one responsible for bringing down wage levels. Mr. Melencio thinks it proper to start organizing one nationality before proceeding to other nationalities. It would be ideal to have a union of multi-national workers . APL and the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) are the only two labor centers that have sent organizers to for the purpose of unionizing Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong.

�� 34

Nature and Extent of Trade Union Involvement in Migrant Labor The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has more than forty federations and national unions with a mass membership of 1.5 million. Generally perceived to be “moderate” which for some can translate to being a “government union,” TUCP represents workers in government agencies such as POEA and OWWA, and at the International Labor Organization. While it recognises overseas workers as among the most vulnerable, abused and least protected, other organizational priorities and lack of funding prevent it from taking any significant and strategic action. Its work is confined to issue-based interventions such as the March 5, 2003 letter of complaint it sent to the ILO Director-General against Hong Kong for violation of ILO Convention No. 97 concerning migrant workers. TUCP cited the reduction of minimum wage of foreign domestic helpers (FDH) effective April 1, 2003, the imposition of a monthly levy on employers of FDH, and the lack of employment security in the FDH employment contract as violative of said Convention. Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) is content to leave the domain of labor migration to MIGRANTE. It has 13 federations as members with a mass base of 250,000 individuals. According to its spokesperson, Mr. Presto Suyat, KMU supports MIGRANTE in the latter's campaigns, and vice-versa. It also conducts education work among member-unions and partner independent unions on the rights of workers, whether local or overseas. In trips abroad, KMU officials meet with OFWs to know what their needs and concerns are. They also advocate for the inclusion of migrants' rights and protection in the agenda of foreign unions KMU has bilateral relations with, particularly in Europe which has a significant number of undocumented migrants. The Federation of Free Workers (FFW) sponsored on November 7-8, 1998 a National Policy Consolidation Workshop in collaboration with the Department of Labor and Employment. Said activity produced the document " FFW Action Program on the Promotion and Protection of Migrant Workers' Rights in Manila. (Earlier, on March 21-27 of the same year, its mother union, BATU, held a seminar on Asian Labour Migration in Manila). Unfortunately, there was no implementing mechanism . Thus, none of the proposals materialized. In the 2001 FFW national convention , organizing of migrant workers as part of expansion work was reiterated. It is part of the June 2001-May2006 Policy and Program of Action, using "decent work " as framework. Decent work is defined as " work carried out in condition of freedom, dignity, security and human dignity". It has four strategic objectives : basic international standards, employment, social protection for all types of workers, and social dialogue. (45) But, according to Mr. Ephraim Guerrero (FFW-International Affairs), FFW has not gone beyond overtures. This is because its current focus is to strengthen the priority

�� 35

sectors-youth, farmers, fisherfolk, informal sectors, cooperatives . Guerrero says going into organizing of OFWs might be spreading themselves too thinly. At one point, FFW considered setting up a recruitment and placement agency for overseas work to help members who had been displaced. But, the proposal turned out to be unfeasible. . FFW's Women's Network Program has an ongoing assistance extended to a group of former overseas workers in an economic project. Ms. Angel Opiana, Program Coordinator, says it provided financial support to TOWER (Talomo Overseas Workers Economic Reintegration) in its peanut butter-making venture. It also referred TOWER to the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority for training on baking. The Program also helps market the products through FFW member-unions. The Program has one partner-organization in Iloilo composed of returnees with focus on economic reintegration. The Program has published an illustrated education material entitled “ Hirap at Pangarap sa Kabila ng Mga Ulap (Difficulties and Dreams Beyond the Clouds) in cooperation with the World Conferderation of Labour - World Committee on Women (WCL-WCW). Said material depicts the plight of women entertainers and domestic workers in Japan, Hong Kong and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) includes the OFW agenda in its international relations work with foreign unions. It has links with transport and rail workers unions in Europe and some countries in Asia (eg South Korea). At present, it has a pending tie up is with the International Center for Labor Solidarity (ICLS) ) for organizing Filipino nurses in Japan. In 2002, BMP deployed an organizer to Hong Kong . This was under the auspices of a new trade union in Hong Kong. The union encountered problems, and eventually fell apart. In the absence of a local partner union, BMP decided to affiliate the organization of domestic workers set up by its organizer with Partido ng Manggagawa (Workers Party), a party -list organization in the Philippines. BMP’s Mr. Melencio says that lack of finance hinders it from pursuing the challenge of unionizing OFWs and families. It does not have the contacts with funding agencies to do a project to organize families of overseas Filipinos. Moreover, there are already NGOs doing work among the families. Hence, it is content to advance the cause of OFWs by a) advocating with trade unions abroad to take up organizing of OFWs since they have the resources; b) encouraging its displaced members who work abroad to go into organizing; c) referring cases to NGOs; and d) supporting the legislative lobby for OF rights and interests as it did with the Absentee Voting Law.

�� 36

Areas of Cooperation between Trade Unions and NGOs There has not been any strategic cooperation between migrants’ organizations and NGOs,on the one hand , and trade unions/labor centers on the other. This is with the exception, of Migrante and KMU. Trade unions/labor centers are still mainly peripheral in the mind of migrants’ organizations and NGOs. And vice-versa. For the longest time, each sector had worked largely by itself. Some NGOs had in the past reached out to labor centers but the cooperation fizzled out because of the unions’ other priorities. Migrants organizations and NGOs also do not see what difference the presence of labor centers such as TUCP and FFW make in government agencies such as POEA,OWWA and TESDA. Said agencies still come out with policies deemed to be anti-migrant. The labor centers, on their part, do not reach out to the migrants’ sector via consultations at the very least. Advocacy at the international level (eg. ILO) is one area where ideally there should be close cooperation between unions and migrants’ organizations/NGOs. But, at present, major unions make their own representations without benefit of consultation with migrants' organizations and NGOs, And same is true with the latter. Nevertheless, there are ongoing albeit limited initiatives at establishing cooperative relations such as : �� .Advocacy for social protection and for workers’ rights

At the national level, formal labor meets with migrant labor formations at the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC). NAPC has a Formal Labor and Migrant Workers Council . The Council issues resolutions and statements in support of calls such as the repeal of Secs. 29 and 30 of RA 8042. On the matter of Japan's new immigration policies, there is no unanimity in the position of migrant NGOs in NAPC and those who have opted to stay out of it. APL and BMP took part in the campaign for the enactment of the Absentee Voting Law , and the amendment of RA 8042. Between the two, APL is more consistent in its participation in advocacy campaigns. Its NGO partner, LEARN, is a member of AMEND. �� Education MARINO does education work for APL among seafarers and seafarers wives . FFW-Women's Network tie up with BATIS and its partner organization BATIS AWARE on education work using theatre as a medium..

�� 37

�� Social Services Trade unions such as FFW-Women's Network Program refer cases to BATIS and COW for legal assistance, counselling, claim making. �� Organizing APL is the only labour center with organizing work among domestic workers in Hong Kong. It is a national labor center that envisions itself to become a "singular union structure consolidated along industry and geographical lines." It was established by 17 unions in November 1996 as an alternative labor center with social movement unionism as strategy." (46) The main features of social movement unionism as a strategy are : a) forging broader solidarity among all types of workers- public and private, formal and informal, blue and white, domestic and overseas, employed and unemployed, b) mobilization of the working people to engage in different arenas of struggles"; and c) emphasis on the social character of the labor movement. APL General Secretary Mr Mata says that OFWs were among the targets for organizing during the founding Congress. This arose from the observation that the trade union movement had defaulted on the OFW sector. APL began its organizing work among seafarers who had been blacklisted by principals and manning agencies. It linked up with MARINO in the conduct of workers' education and organizing. In 2002, it supported the campaigns for the enactment of the absentee voting bill, and the repeal of the deregulation provisions in RA 8042. Lack of funds prevented it from going full speed into organizing OFWs. In 2004, the Asian Migrants Center approached Akbayan! Party List for assistance in organizing Filipina domestic workers in Hong Kong. The latter referred AMC to APL. The discussions led to the signing of a Terms of Reference for a political project involving the organizing of Filipina domestic workers into unions. The Philippine parties were APL and its education center, the Labor Education and Research Network (LEARN). Their Hong Kong-based counterparts were the AMC, the Filipino Domestic Workers General Union, and the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU).

In February 2005, APL deployed a woman organizer to Hong Kong. In four months, she was able to reactivate and expand the Filipino Domestic Workers General Union which now has 115 members. The vision is for FHDGU to become a federation of Filipino unions under the Asian Domestic Workers Union. (For details, see Models and New Trends in Migrant Work (cross border/international) Trends and Developments in Union Policy Advocacies and Stance The work of the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) among seafarers provides an excellent case on the potent role of trade unions in advancing the rights of workers. ITF has been organizing seafarers since 1896. Through its member-unions, and

�� 38

international campaigns and solidarity work, ITF has successfully worked for improvements in the working and living conditions of seafarers. In June this year, it proposed a ten per cent increase in the pay of seafarers and improvements in their conditions of work at the International Bargaining Forum in Rome. For land-based workers, in destination countries like Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore, there is increasing trade union openness to and involvement in promoting the rights and welfare of foreign workers, including undocumented ones. In Belgium recently, two major trade unions accepted more than 600 Filipino workers as members, majority of whom are undocumented. Union organizing among land-based foreign workers is specially challenging because of the informal and flexible nature of their work, their undocumented status, and in the case of domestic workers, their once-a-week day-off which does not leave much time for organizing. There is also the fear of the word "union" among migrants, the connotation being "communist." Other constraints include national laws that may not be friendly to union work. But union organizing among foreign workers has been done and it is being done. Globalization is changing patterns and structures of work. Union organizing must then explore creative and unconventional ways of reaching out to migrants, and forging unity among them , and between them and locals . V. Cooperation or Competition? Dynamics of Migrant Labour Work Strengths and Weaknesses/Gaps of Existing Migrant Labour Work Existing migrant labour work has the following strengths: �� The analysis of international labour migration is holistic, integrative, structural and

for some, gendered. It looks at migration as not only in terms of its economic but also its political and socio-cultural dimensions. It considers the macro, mezzo, and micro factors in understanding the causes, mechanisms and consequences of migration. Migration is linked to the government’s wrong economic paradigm.

�� The strategies used address all levels = individual, family, community, policies and laws at the national, regional and international levels. The protection and promotion of the rights of migrants is at the core of all action. The strategic goal for many NGOs and migrants’ organizations is genuine development so that our people will have other real options apart from migration .

�� Right-based perspective and approach inform and guide the work of majority of migrants’ organizations and NGOs.

�� Generally, there is more cooperation than competition among migrants’ organizations and NGOs. Especially in international lobbying. Organizational differences are set aside in pursuit of common positions on migrant labour.

�� The presence of regional and international linkages and networks facilitates response to OFWs in distress abroad, sharing of information and expertise, and makes for effective and coordinated national and international campaigns.

�� 39

�� The Philippine government considers NGOs and migrants’ organizations as partners in the promotion and protection of the rights of OFWs and families. This is contained in the Declaration of Principles of RA 8042.

Major weaknesses, on the other hand, are : �� Generally, NGOs have limited reach ,geographically, because of constraints in

staffing and resources. Most are based in Metro-Manila. Only the Catholic Church has nationwide reach.

�� There are few NGOs outside Metro-Manila that address labour migration concerns. �� Culture as one key area of work has not been given the attention it deserves. There is

something seriously wrong when daughters are forced by parents to work in Japan. Or when women put up with abuse and exploitation abroad for the sake of their families’ economic survival. Or when extended families rely solely on remittances of OFWs.

�� The productive utilization of remittances by families and by government is a major item on the agenda of migrants’ organizations and NGOs. But, most NGOs do not have the economic knowhow and savvy on how this can be effectively pursued. Their skills are more political, honed by years of political activism in the areas of awareness raising, organizing, advocacy and networking.

�� Gender is not as mainstreamed as it should be among migrants’ organizations and NGOs.

Models and New Trends in Migrant Work (in-country) A number of NGOs in the Philippines has combined direct services with advocacy and socio-economic work . Post-migration joblessness is a problem NGOs could no longer simply refer to government to address. Hence, some NGOs such as ATIKHA, Batis, DAWN have ventured into income-generating projects. The use of theatre in advocacy as exemplified by the work of Batis and DAWN is exemplary in terms of creative approaches to community education and advocacy. A third model is the organization of families of OFWs and former migrants at the barangay, municipal and provincial level for engagement in local governance. This is represented by the Bannuar Ti La Union experience . Last but not the least, model building in the area of reintegration. Unlad Kabayan’s MSAI for Community Development and Reintegration is one approach . The other is Kanlungan’s Five Pillars to Local Economy Development. It has five components: a) research; b) organizing of OFW families and ex-OFWs; c) networking with local government units, business and finance sectors; d) capability building of all stakeholders; and) enterprise development. At present, one emerging strategic area for investment is the construction of irrigation facilities to increase agricultural productivity.

�� 40

Models and New Trends in Migrant Work (cross border/international) The first model is international networking among migrants’ organizations and NGOs at the regional and international levels. The Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA) has four members in the Philippines. It is the broadest network of migrants’ organizations and NGOs in Asia. At the global level, it is affiliated with Migrant Rights International. Through such networks, the NGOs in the Philippines have been able to exchange ideas and analysis , and arrive at a common agenda with their counterparts all over the world. The advances in information technology facilitate global communication. The 2001 World Conference on Racism, Discrimination, Xenophobia and Other Forms of Discrimination is one example of a successful lobby by MFA and MRI. The same goes for the ratification of the UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrants and Members. The second model is the ongoing cooperation between APL, LEARN in the Philippines and AMC, FDWGU, and the HKCTU in Hong Kong in organizing Filipina domestic workers . It seems to be the first of its kind in the region. APL’s work among Filipina domestic workers in Hong Kong has the following features:

�� organizing and/or transforming the different Filipino domestic workers’ formations into a federation . This federation will include the different trade unions of migrant workers, specially domestic workers.

�� confederation of all unions of foreign domestic workers �� affiliation with a local Hong Kong trade union federation for protection. In this

model, the local partner is the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU)

�� establishment of strong links between the Filipino trade unions in Hong Kong and APL ,migrants’ formations and NGOs in the Philippines . The Filipino Domestic Helpers General Union becomes an affiliate of both HKCTU and APL.

Based on the learnings from the APL experience, thus far, an ideal model of cooperation between trade unions and NGOs must involve :

a. a social movement framework of unionism b. targeting union members, workers, communities, families and individual

prospective migrants in the Philippines, on-site OFWs, and returnees c. partnership between a labor center/trade union and migrants’

organizations/NGOs in the Philippines and destination countries, and complementation of services

In the Philippines, trade unions/labor centers can collaborate with migrants’ organizations/NGOs on a) awareness raising on ILM laws, policies and OFW rights and entitlements; b) policy and legislative advocacy; c) campaigns; and d) local economy development. Unions are losing members because of the closure of establishments, and retrenchments. Many of them envision a future with

�� 41

workers managing enterprises themselves. The MSAI-CDR and local economy development work by NGOs offer an opportunity for unions to actualize their vision. Organizing of OFW families and returnees can also be undertaken by unions and NGOs. NGOs can help raise funds for this undertaking.

The provision of services is one domain of NGOs. Hence, there is little pressure on unions to expand services to include migrants and their families. Until such time they become card-bearing union members, of course.

In destination countries, trade unions can link up with their counterpart in the Philippines for the hiring of a union organizer. Since Philippine unions do not have enough funds, the proposal is for the foreign partner/s to assume the costs of organizing, eg. organizer's wage, visa sponsorship, housing, insurance. Advocacy for workers' rights and protection, including campaigns, becomes stronger with a broader base.

At the international level, trade unions have an edge over NGOs in that they have

the right of institutional representation . They should maximize this to ensure that migrant workers’ rights are recognized and protected.

Role of International Instruments and Platforms The United Nations is a slow lane to change. But it is not totally inutile. Migrants’ organizations and NGOs take time and effort to mainstream the agenda of migrant workers at various UN bodies and conferences. International instruments and platforms are useful in terms of setting standards of protection for migrant workers, and using moral suasion on governments to comply. As early as the 80s. KAIBIGAN had been calling on the Philippine government to ratify ILO Conventions dealing on migrant labour, particularly Convention Nos. 97, 100, 143. Until now, the government has not ratified them. Thus, the advocacy agenda of NGOs and migrants’ organizations continues to include the ratification of said instruments, and to propose labor standards .

�� 42

End Notes:

1. Department of Foreign Affairs 2. Torres, Ted P.. “ “Economy hinges on consumption, OFW inflows for growth-

NEDA”. The Philippine Star. October 17, 2005. p. C-1. 3. “Will Macapagal's 6M jobs ease unemployment? " www.inq7.net/opi/2004/july 4. Nicolas, Sandra ." Government's New Statistical Trick Hides Job Losses."

www.bulatlat.com. Vol. V, # 18, June 12-18, 2005) 5. Ibid. 6. Ibid. 7. Fighting Back with Social Movement Unionism: A Handbook for APL Activists.

Alliance of Progressive Labor APL) and the Labor Education and Research Network (LEARN) , p. 31.

8. Promoting Decent Work in a Borderless World: Policy and Program of Action Resolutions. Federation of Free Workers . June 2001-May 2006, p. 11.

9. APL-LEARN, op.cit, p.31 10. Ibid. p. 33 11. FFW, op cit. p. 11 12. Villegas, Edberto M. " The Philippine Financial Crisis and the Neocolonial State."

www.bulatlat.net. Vol. IV, No. 34, September 26-October 2, 2004. 13. TWG on Poverty Determination. www.neda.org.ph 14. Villegas, op.cit 15. “Blind Debt in the Philippines" featured in Asia Times Online. June 2005.

www.condoradvisers.com. 16. Lim, Benito, a retired professor of Political Science at the University of the Philippines as quoted in "Instability and More Hardships for Filipinos." www.bulatlat.com, Vol. IV, No. 16, May 23-29, 2004 17. National Statistics Office 18. IBON Foundation, "For Every P10 income, government spent P5 to repay debts in 2004. Press release . February 2005. www.ibon.org 19. www.condoradviser.com. op cit 20. Villegas, op. cit 21. Remollino, Alexander Martin. " Nationwide Anti_VAT Protest Set on Feb. 16" www. bulatlat.com . Vol V, No. 2, Feb. 13-19, 2005

22. Ibid. 23. Ibid. 24. Ibid 25. Gatdula, Donnabelle L."OFW remittances jump 22% in H1." The Philippine

Star. August 15, 2005, p. B-1 26. Ibid. 27. SSemyonov, M., & Gorodzeisky, A. (2002). Occupational destinations and

economic mobility of Filipino Overseas Workers. Paper presented at the ISA Research Committee on Social Stratification and Mobility, April 10 - 12, Oxford. as cited by Glenys Perry, MA Ed in her article “ The International Labour Organisation Definition of ‘Decent Work': Implications for the Well-

�� 43

being of Families in the Philippines.” Info. Vol. 6, No. 1 “ April 2003. pp.57-73.

28. Mission, G. (n.d.) The breadwinners: Female migrant workers. As cited in the article of Glenys Perry .

29. Alcid, Mary Lou L. Alcid. Overseas Filipino Workers: Sacrificial Lambs at the Altar of Deregulation". International Migration and Sending Countries: Perceptions, Policies and Transnational Relations. edited by E.O. Nielsen. c. 2003. PalgraveMcmillan. pp. 112-113.

30. www. owwa.gov.ph 31. Ibid 32. Phil Daily Inquirer Nov. 1, 2004 as cited in Trends, News and Tidbits (T.N.T.) ,

vol. 15, Issue No. 37, Oct-Dec 2004. Kanlungan Centre. 33. Opiniano, Jeremaiah M. “ RP development should include harnessing OFW

resources.” June 25,2004. Cyberdyaryo. 34. Alcid. op.cit., p. 116. 35. Remarks made by an OWWA information officer during a meeting with

representatives of NOVA. November 2001. 36. Kanlungan Centre Foundation data 37. Alvarez, Adelina ."Seafarers protest against the New POEA Contract". T.N.T.

Vol 11 , Issue No. 29, July-September 2002. Kanlungan Centre Foundation. 38. Philippine Daily Inquirer, October 20, 2004 as cited in Trends, News and

Tidbits, newsletter of Kanlungan Centre. Vol. 15, Issue No. 37, Oct-Dec 2004. 39. Trends, News and Tidbits. Vol. 11, Issue No. 29, p.1. Kanlungan Centre

Foundation 40. www.migrante.org 41. www.atikha.org 42. www.amosup.org

43. Marites Sison. “ Philippine unions fail to help migrant workers “. December 19, 2002. www.atimes.com

44. Proceedings of the Second Dr. A.J. Ganapin Advocacy Forum Series . “Migrants’ Rights Protection and the Role of Trade Unions in Origin and Destination Countries .” June 24, 2005. Quezon City.

45. Promoting Decent Work in a Borderless World. Policy and Program of Action Resolutions. Federation of Free Workers. p. 22.

Date post:	03-Jan-2017
Category:	Documents
Upload:	doanlien
View:	216 times
Download:	0 times

Migrant Labour in Southeast Asia Country Study: The Philippines ...

Documents