Days ahead of the President’s first State of the Nation Address (SONA) in 2022, the newly created Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) launched its repatriation center for distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
It was one of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s SONA promises to the sector that helped push him to a landslide victory in the elections.
However, despite the thousands of Filipinos repatriated since 2022, the Marcos administration remains “passive” on the welfare of OFWs, advocacy group Migrante International told the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ).
“Whether it’s a labor matter or a criminal matter, hindi namin nakikitang aktibong ipinaglalaban (we don’t see the government actively fighting for) or asserting the rights of our OFWs and allocating sufficient resources [to them],” said Joanna Concepcion, who chairs Migrante International. Migrante International is a global network of OFWs and their families.
“We would describe it more as passive instead of being proactive,” Concepcion said.
The DMW’s One Repatriation Command Center (ORCC) was created to serve as a one-stop shop for Filipino migrant workers’ repatriation needs.
Its office in Pasig City accepts walk-in requests. Distressed OFWs and their families may also send requests through the hotline 1348 or the email address repat@dmw.gov.ph.
DMW Undersecretary Bernard Olalia told PCIJ that once a complaint reaches the ORCC, it will be forwarded to the labor attaché in the host country, who will then contact the OFW’s foreign recruitment agency (FRA) or employer.
“Ipu-pull out si worker from the custody of the employer (The worker will be pulled out from the employer’s custody,” said Olalia. “May extraction procedure ‘yan… Kapag hindi pumayag, may penalty si FRA, may penalty si employer, maba-blacklist sila (We have an extraction procedure… If they don’t comply, the FRA and employer will be penalized and blacklisted).”
Olalia heads DMW’s licensing and adjudication services. He previously led the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), which regulated overseas recruitment and manning firms.
The POEA and other migration and labor agencies were consolidated into the DMW.
In its first 100 days, the ORCC received 5,066 requests for assistance, according to DMW. Of this number, about a third or 1,635 Filipinos were repatriated.
OFW woes, death row
But Migrante’s Concepcion said DMW’s repatriation mechanism was not as quick and efficient as the government made it appear.
Many OFWs were detained and charged in court without any lawyer from the Philippine government, she said.
“‘Yung lawyer na binigay ng Philippine embassy, dumating two to three months later. E nasampahan na ng death sentence (The lawyer from the Philippine embassy arrived two to three months later, during which time the death sentence had been handed down),” Concepcion told PCIJ.
“The quick response, wala pa doon (We’re not yet seeing a quick response).”
At least 80 OFWs are on death row, a Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) official said during a committee hearing at the House of Representatives in March.
Fifty-six of these Filipinos are in Malaysia, while the remaining were sentenced to death in other countries, including United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, the United States, Bangladesh, and China.
In Indonesia, Mary Jane Veloso is facing capital punishment for drug trafficking. Veloso was granted a last-minute stay of execution in 2015 so she could act as a witness against her alleged trafficker.
But the number of overseas Filipinos in death row is expected to decrease as the Philippine government continues to appeal for commutation of sentences. In June, Malacañang said the UAE pardoned three Filipino convicts. Two of them were sentenced to death for drug trafficking, while the other faced 15 years of jail time for slander.
Meanwhile, distressed OFWs who fled their employers to return to the Philippines had to “assert” to the Philippine Embassy and the Migrant Workers Office their “need of concrete services.” These include temporary shelter, food, and financial assistance.
“Kailangan pang kulitin, kalampagin pa ang (We still needed to badger) government agencies to move them into action,” Concepcion said.
Migrante also received several reports that the ORCC was unresponsive when OFWs called the hotline or sent complaints, she said.
“Ang pangako ng bagong tahanan supposedly ng OFWs (The promise of a supposed home of OFWs in the government) is it would make the services faster. The families would be put at ease na hihingi sila ng tulong, matutugunan agad (that if they seek help, it will immediately be provided to them). That was the promise… hindi ‘yun na-achieve (it was not achieved),” she said.
‘Go beyond repatriation’
Upholding the rights and welfare of OFWs should go beyond repatriating them, said Concepcion. The government should also work with host countries to address working conditions.
For decades, many OFWs have suffered from poor working conditions, abusive employers, illegal recruitment, and trafficking.
In the 2023 Trafficking in Persons report, the U.S. Department of State said the Philippines “slightly decreased efforts to protect victims” and “lacked a reliable mechanism” to consolidate data on the victims.
The same report stated that there were 1,277 identified Filipino trafficking victims. The DFA also recorded 340 potential Filipino trafficking victims abroad, a slight increase compared with 248 in the previous period.
But when Filipino migrant workers return to the country, they are unable to find good jobs, Concepcion said.
“Hindi solusyon ‘yung pauwiin lang sila nang walang trabaho dito (Repatriation without giving them domestic job opportunities is not a solution),” she said.
She called on the government to allot more funding and resources to programs and services that directly benefit OFWs and their families.
The imposition of additional fees, such as for Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) membership, should also be scrapped, she added.
DMW’s Olalia admitted that there are “gaps” in regulations and implementation of programs.
“We have to enhance our bilateral cooperation with [host governments],” the undersecretary said.
Dialogues between OFWs, employers, and civil society are also important.
In the meantime, the DMW continues its efforts to repatriate Filipinos in war-torn countries Ukraine and Sudan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and others, said Olalia. END
TOP IMAGE: File photo of Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople welcoming a group of 99 OFWs returning from the Sudan conflict. Photo from DMW's Facebook page.