The Polo-Owwa onsite labor education program

MANILA, Philippines — Last week, I received a heartwarming comment regarding my recent write-up here in INQUIRER.net’s Global Nation entitled, “Some RP execs engaged in human trafficking.”

The comment was from my good friend, Rustico “Resty” Dela Fuente, labor attaché previously assigned at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (Polo) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and now in European Union’s seat of power in Brussels, Belgium.

Resty said the write-up “will be both news and eye-opener to many” as he admitted that overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) as well as respective government officials indeed are always on the lookout for news, information, and documentary literatures on the plight and concerns of migrant workers.”

He lamented that “trafficking concepts and issues have not seeped through the consciousness of many sectors.”

Resty further said, “We’ve done our share in Riyadh and my colleagues will surely continue the work I would leave behind (in the KSA post). I made sure that human trafficking fundamentals are incorporated in the Polo-Owwa’s Onsite Labor Education Program (Olep).”

Through Resty, Olep forums have been held by the Polo and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (Owwa) together with the Philippine embassy in key districts in the KSA to inform and educate OFWs about the kingdom’s labor laws and the workers’ rights and privileges.

Olep forums have so far been held in Riyadh as well as in other areas in the Central and Eastern Regions of the Kingdom.

According to Resty, the Olep “will continue its school series this school year. There are 11 Filipino-owned/operated Philippine International Schools covered by the Philippine embassy in Riyadh. The parents and teachers of these schools are good audience for human trafficking seminars.”

“There are indeed too much to do in this concern. Fortunately, the KSA promulgated an Anti-Human Trafficking Law last November 2009, but a lot must be done to ensure its implementation in favor of OFW interests in the kingdom,” he said.

As mentioned in my previous write-up, “Men, women, and children were subjected to conditions of forced labor in factories, construction sites, and as domestic workers in Asia and increasingly throughout the Middle East,” as was noted in the United States State Department’s June 2010 Human Trafficking Report.

Olep is truly a very noteworthy initiative. Through the program, OFWs, particularly in Saudi Arabia, acquire relevant information and knowledge about their host country, its labor laws, and its culture, as well as their rights and privileges which are being recognized by that country.

The Olep could indeed guide OFWs in their overseas employment and help protect them from possible abuse and maltreatment. Resty’s initiative should be likewise vigorously implemented in other OFW destination countries. –Jun Burgos, INQUIRER.net