MIGRANTS WATCH

'Barangay Iraq'

Told about the dangers of working in war-torn Iraq, residents of Barangay Iraq, formally named as the Madapdap Resettlement Center in Mabalacat, Pampanga, a town in Central Luzon, replied, “Mas delikado dito” (It’s more dangerous here). They would rather die working in Iraq than die of hunger at home, they said.

BY DABET CASTAÑEDA
Bulatlat

Residents of MRC have renamed their place as Barangay Iraq (Iraq village) in memory of their neighbor, Raymund Natividad. Raymund Natividad was an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) at Camp Anaconda in Balad, Iraq, 100 kms north of Baghdad. He died after being hit by mortar fire last May 11.    

Jobless in Barangay Iraq

The main problem confronting the residents of Barangay Iraq is joblessness. 

Although several livelihood projects were implemented after the Mt.Pinatubo eruption, job opportunities remained scarce.  The only jobs available were for welders and furniture carpenters at the Meca Industries and for workers at the Trust International Paper Corporation (TIPCO) in Pampanga. 

But the pay was low at PhP150-180 a day, Php100 short of the minimum wage. There was also no security of tenure as workers are hired as contractuals. 

Brgy. Secretary Danilo R. Manalang confirmed to Bulatlat that the local government does not create enough job opportunities in the area.  Only five percent of the total population of the MRC benefited from the government’s livelihood projects, he said.

He added that most residents find it difficult to find work as more than half of the population were farmers.  “Kaya pagsasaka ang alam nila” (Farming is the only work they know), he said. 

Originally, the plan was to give a half-hectare of land each family so that they will have a land to till.  But there were too many victims that needed homes.

“Kaya ang kinalabasan, may bahay sila pero wala silang trabaho” (So the families ended up with homes but no work), Manalang said.

Manalang also shared that about 200 to 300 home beneficiaries have sold their right to the land allotted to them.  Most of those who sold their rights were Aetas, an indigenous group, who have gone back to the mountains.  Some have sold their rights because they needed money for medical emergencies.

Braving the risks

The tragedy that has befallen Natividad and Dayao has not affected the desire of residents of Barangay Iraq to work in war-torn Iraq. 

“Mas delikado dito” (It’s more dangerous here) they chorused, adding that “they would rather die working in Iraq than die of hunger at home.”

Celso Aquino, 40, said he has been jobless for several years and has applied for a job in Iraq as a cook. 

The plight of Ronald Dayao illustrates why the residents of Barangay Iraq risk life and limb to work in Iraq. 

Dayao worked for four years in Saudi Arabia before Mt. Pinatubo unleashed its fury in 1991, burying everything he had worked for, including the house he had built for his family.  He stayed for another four years in the Middle East to continue supporting his family who went from one evacuation site to another until they were awarded land at the MRC in 1995.  He went home in 1995 but remained jobless for three years.

He applied for another job in Saudi Arabia and worked there for another four years.  In 2002, he went back home only to leave again, this time for Iraq, in December 2003.

“Walang trabaho dito” (There’s no work here), he said. 

Meanwhile, Arcilla, himself a pure Kapangpangan, said his agency has sent 4,000 OFWs to Iraq during the last eight months.  The reconstruction of Iraq would require at least 25,000 workers which, Arcilla said, means that more than 20,000 more jobs are waiting to be occupied in Iraq.

“That’s where the work is right now,” Arcilla said, referring to Iraq.

Arcilla said that his agency receives about 1,500 to 2,000 applicants everyday. He said that applications are coursed through an agency of the local government, the Public Service Employment Organization (PESO), which serves as local agents for recruitment agencies. 

“The people go to them and the PESO recommends workers to us,” he said. 

He believes that the lack of jobs available in the country pushes these people to look for jobs overseas, applying for work even in high-risk countries. 

Labor export program

Racquel Rivera, spokesperson for Migrante-Central Luzon chapter, averred that the government aggressively promotes its labor export program because it benefits financially from this aside from alleviating the unemployment problem in the country.   

Last year, the government earned at least PhP13 billion from applicants for overseas work through state exactions that include the acquisition of authenticated birth certificates, clearances from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and passports, Rivera told Bulatlat.

Data from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) show that the government earned at least U.S.$8 billion from OFW remittances.  Rivera said if door-to-door remittances from OFWs to their families were included, the figure will go up to about U.S.$12 to $15 billion every year. 

Because of this, Rivera said, it is not surprising, that the government sends its labor force abroad.

Not the solution

Rivera explained however that employment abroad does not assure a family of a good fortune.  “Naiibsan lang ang paghihirap nila sa isang panahon” (Their poor conditions are merely temporarily alleviated), she said.

Families of OFWs would be able to have their house repaired or constructed and their children sent to school.  But as soon as their work overseas is over and they become jobless, they become poor again. 

Some OFWs even return home traumatized or worse, dead.  Records of the Overseas Workers Welfare Assistance (OWWA) show that from January to June, 49 returning OFWs were mentally ill, 994 were maltreated while 41 were distressed. Bulatlat/Photos by Dabet Castañeda

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