Migrant group slams ‘lopsided’ RP-Korea labor pact

A local migrant worker group yesterday assailed the planned signing of a labor agreement between the Philippines and Korea, saying the pact would put Filipino workers at a disadvantageous situation.

Migrante International said the proposed renewal of the Employment Permit System (EPS) agreement between the two countries would result in lower salaries and removal of benefits of Filipino workers in Korea.

MIgrante Chairman Garry Martinez described the EPS agreement as “a one-sided treaty” that would deprive Filipino workers of certain benefits that they used to enjoy before.

“Her signing of the renewal of the agreement with the deletion will surely be added to the long list of her sins against overseas Filipino workers,” Martinez said.

Under the EPS, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration will serve as the only authorized agency that will deploy overseas Filipino workers to Korea, meaning OFWs will no longer have to go through private recruitment firms.

Martinez said Korean employers are planning to lower the salary as well as remove certain benefits of the OFWs, including the shouldering of the airfare, under the agreement that will be signed by President Arroyo during her official visit to Seoul today.

“Knowing how desperate President Arroyo is to sell OFWs as cheap labor to save her government and the economy, we are afraid that she will agree to this, no matter if OFWs will further be exploited,” Martinez said.

In 2004, Manila and Seoul entered into a four-year EPS to limit incidents of human trafficking and illegal recruitment.

The EPS is one of the 10 major agreements to be signed by Mrs. Arroyo during her official visit to Korea.

In Korea, Mrs. Arroyo and South Korea President Lee Myung-Bak yesterday held a bilateral meeting to discuss steps to further strengthen the diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The meeting was held at the Blue House, the executive office and official residence of Korea’s head of state in Seoul.

In his welcome address, Lee cited the 60 years of diplomatic relations between South Korea and the Philippines, saying the Philippines has a “special place in the hearts and minds of the people of Korea.”

He said the Koreans’ affection for the Philippines began at the end of World War II when diplomatic relations between the two countries first began, and from there, blossomed into what it is today.

“Following the end of the Second World War, out of all the members of ASEAN, the Philippines was the first country to establish diplomatic relations with the Republic of Korea,” Lee said.

“In 1950, when the Korean War erupted in the (Korean) Peninsula, the Philippines dispatched 7,000 of its servicemen to fight alongside the Koreans, to fight against aggression and Communism and for that the Philippines has a very special place in our hearts,” he added.

Lee pointed out that during those “60 years, we’ve had many, many exchanges not only in people exchanges but also in economic cooperation as well.”

“It has encompassed cultural exchanges, areas in diplomacy, in the global stage in terms of military and industrial cooperation, tourism and environmental protection as well,” he said.

“So, on the occasion of your Excellency’s visit to the Republic of Korea, I hope it will lead to the start of the even further expanding and strengthening in breadth and scope of our bilateral relations with each other,” the Korean head of state said.

For her part, Mrs. Arroyo, who came to Korea on a state visit in 2003 and attended the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting held in Busan, South Korea in 2005, expressed happiness at visiting the country once again.

During the Korea War, she noted it was his late father, former President Diosdado Macapagal, then a congressman, who “authored the resolution to send troops to Korea and so, therefore, I also feel a special affinity to the people of the Republic of Korea.”

“And as far as labor relations and people-to-people exchanges are concerned, today there are 90,000 Koreans who live in the Philippines and 60,000 Filipinos – the majority of them workers — who live in Korea,” she added.

“Not only have these Koreans found a second home – you are our number one tourists (visitors to the Philippines) – we also enjoy having your students who come to study English and other courses in the Philippines,” she moreover said.

After their bilateral meeting, the two heads of government witnessed the signing of six memorandums of understanding (MoU) between their two countries.

These MoUs were on the exchange of notes on the grant aid on rice processing complex; a feasibility study on the establishment of multi-industry cluster; EPS workers; cooperation in the field of labor and manpower development; agricultural, scientific and technical cooperation; and; the construction of wind power plants in the Philippines. –Michaela P. del Callar and PNA