Gov’t must reorganize to serve OFWs

The events of the past weeks, from the turbulence in the Arab world to the earthquake in New Zealand, have clearly driven home the message that government has to be better organized to serve the OFWs better. The finger pointing and blame throwing we hear in the evening newscasts can’t do anybody any good.

I feel for the men and women of the Foreign Affairs department who always get the brunt of complaints every time there is an emergency affecting the welfare of OFWs. Since Contemplacion, the nature of our diplomats’ mission changed forever: from traditional diplomacy to looking after the welfare of our OFWs.

The thing is… DFA is still not properly organized and equipped to deliver the kind of service to OFWs the nation demands of them. Outside of an undersecretary in charge of migrant affairs, the DFA did not get the proper staffing and budget but gets the larger part of the blame every time.

What DFA needs are financial resources they can tap in an instant to cover costs of assisting OFWs in trouble with the law or repatriating those who found themselves in trouble due to political events in their host countries. They need to establish shelters, charter planes, buses, boats to evacuate OFWs or hire local lawyers to represent OFWs in foreign courts.

But the financial resources available for such eventualities are with OWWA, an agency that is not under the control of DFA. One can say that between two government agencies, there should be no problem coordinating. That’s nice to hear in theory but in practice, it would have been better if OWWA was placed under the DFA rather than DOLE at least for that part of OWWA that has to do with extending assistance to OFWs abroad.

As for the part of OWWA that deals with helping OFWs relocate here like providing temporary shelter and livelihood training and loans, that could be placed under the supervision of DSWD. In most instances, returning distressed OFWs need post traumatic stress debriefing and counseling and the more experienced professionals in that area are likely to be found at DSWD than DOLE.

Effectively, the work of DOLE vis-a-vis OFWs ends with their proper deployment through POEA. After they leave the country, the responsibility for the welfare of the OFWs transfer to DFA and thus, DFA should be given the financial and manpower resources to get that job done well.

Covering the DFA was my first assignment as a journalist 40 years ago and I know that the best and the brightest of our civil service can be found there. It pains me to see them lambasted daily in television newscasts and newspaper columns and editorials as if they are bumbling idiots who do not know how to get their job done. Of course they can do better but critics do not see the limited resources they have to work with.

Given that the troubles in the Middle East and Northern Africa are not going away any time soon, we need to draft and put in effect a comprehensive plan that will detail our potential responses to different levels of trouble in these countries. We are still lucky that the unrest happened in countries other than Saudi Arabia and the major Gulf states or we would have experienced a real nightmare.

Just think of over a million OFWs trying to flee Saudi Arabia. This is the worse case scenario our government should be preparing contingency plans for. And we should be honest about our capabilities so that alternative plans can be made by those who cannot be immediately helped by our government.

And beyond the safety of our OFWs, government needs to worry about the impact of a mass exodus home of our workers. For decades we have made a temporary relief valve for our unemployment problem into a major earner of foreign exchange. A quick and drastic change has to have serious repercussions to our economy and society.

There are so many lessons to learn and warnings to heed that are coming out of this present crisis. It would be a pity if none of these are taken to heart and used as a basis for creating a better contingency plan to manage an even worse situation than we have now.

Human trafficking

From what I have been hearing, outside of the crisis created by the political turmoil of recent weeks, the pervading problems of our embassies and consulates abroad have to do with our countrymen victimized by human trafficking syndicates. Problems range from illegal recruitment to prostitution, virtual slavery and lately, drug mules.

I understand that the problem has escalated so much that the Philippines is under threat of being tagged in a watch list of countries with uncontrolled human trafficking. If this happens, even our MDG grant from the US which P-Noy signed during his US visit may be imperiled.

I am told that the issue was raised by US officials with Vice President Jojo Binay during his recent US visit. Luckily for us, Veep Jojo was able to buy us some time by reassuring his American hosts that he will give the matter his top attention. The Vice President reportedly pointed out that he is a human rights lawyer and is professionally capable of handling the problem.

But this isn’t a problem that can be handled by Binay alone. He needs the support of our law enforcement agencies, the Bureau of Immigration and the Department of Justice. Given that there are now hundreds of Filipinos languishing in foreign jails who are really victims of human trafficking we have to address the problem at the source: our airports.

The good news is that the Vice President has given his word that he will deal with the problem and knowing him, he can be expected to deliver decisive action. –Boo Chanco (The Philippine Star)

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is bchanco@gmail.com. He is also on Twitter @boochanco