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Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts Volume IV, Number 23 July 11 - 17, 2004 Quezon City, Philippines |
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Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts Volume IV, Number 23 July 11 - 17, 2004 Quezon City, Philippines |
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MIGRANT WATCH Angelo
de la Cruz, Other OFWs Lured to Middle East Due to Higher Pay As
various groups and individuals call on the government to pull out the 51
soldiers and police officers in Iraq to save the life of driver Angelo de
la Cruz who was taken hostage by Iraqi militants, it is also imperative
to review the policy on overseas deployment that has now become
institutionalized due to lack of employment opportunities in the country,
not to mention low wages and increased cost of living. By
DANILO ARAÑA ARAO
In
the past, Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas appealed to Middle
East-based OFWs not to accept the $800-monthly salary offer to work in
Iraq. “The biggest risk for our workers would be the roadside
bombings…We know the pay is good but please do not do it.” While she
may have issued a well-meaning advice, Sto. Tomas overlooked the risk of
OFWs being taken hostage by Iraqi armed groups. About
4,200 Filipinos working in US military installations in Iraq, were
obviously lured by the relatively higher pay. If they were to work in
Metro Manila, they would most likely earn a daily minimum wage of P300
($5.38), or about P6,600 monthly ($118.30, assuming a 22-day workmonth). According
to the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC), the family
living wage in Metro Manila was pegged at P594 daily ($10.65). In other
words, a family of six in Metro Manila needs at least P17,820 monthly
($319.41) to fulfill food and non-food requirements. For
those who live a hand-to-mouth existence, it becomes better for a member
of the family, normally the father or mother, to go abroad than for the
family to starve. There is a need to stress that while de la Cruz
voluntarily went to Saudi Arabia, he was nevertheless forced by
circumstances to do so. In
2002, the number of OFWs was estimated at five million. The past years saw
their remittances slowly increasing. As of 2003, the remittances stood at
$7.64 billion. (See Table) The
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas admitted that the increase in OFW remittances
“reflected in part the increase in the number of Filipinos leaving to
work abroad.” As
various groups and individuals call on the government to heed the
hostage-takers’ demand to pull out the 51 soldiers and police officers
serving with the US-led coalition forces in Iraq, it is also imperative to
seriously review the policy on overseas deployment that has now become
institutionalized due to lack of employment opportunities in the country,
not to mention low wages and increased cost of living. Indeed,
the political and socioeconomic context in which the hostage-taking
happened must be seriously studied, as the plight of de la Cruz is not
isolated when taking into account the hardships that workers go through
just to ensure their family’s survival. Bulatlat.com
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