MANILA, Philippines — Migrant workers' advocate Susan "Toots" Ople’s pending appointment to head a newly-established government agency that would oversee Filipino migrant workers' issues is seen as both a "boon and bane" for overseas Filipino workers.
While Migrante International recognized Ople’s prior experience serving in the government and in non-government organizations, they noted that her appointment as the head of the Department of Migrant Workers may be a challenge as she is "one of the staunch supporters" of the "Migration for Development" strategy.
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"This strategy of using migration as a tool for economic development means capitalizing [on] forced migration and perpetuating the labor export program in order to prop up the ailing economy through remittances and mandatory fees to OFWs," their statement released on Wednesday read.
Migrante International, which promotes the rights and welfare of OFW, is a coalition of over 200 member-organizations based in more than 20 countries.
Opponents of creating the department had raised the concern that it would institutionalize the unwritten "labor export" program of the country.
However, Ople addressed the criticism on the country’s labor export policy in an interview with the ABS-CBN News Channel’s “Headstart” on Tuesday, saying "we cannot also deny that labor migration is here to stay… and there is nothing bad with that."
She said "we’re all part of the global supply chain."
READ: Incoming Migrant Workers Secretary Ople to start with a ‘system review’
What Migrante wants
While Ople had already expressed that she will be consulting with stakeholders to guide her leadership of the department, the coalition called on her to expand her plan to review the hiring system of OFWs
Ople said she wants the country’s current migration laws amended to crackdown on illegal recruitment and on human trafficking. She said one of the first things she will do is to conduct a “systems review” for the hiring system.
Migrante International wants Ople to "stretch it more" by getting rid of the mandatory Overseas Employment Certificate and other required fees imposed by the government to OFWs such as the mandatory insurance, PhilHealth premium increase, and the mandatory Pag-IBIG membership.
READ: Mandatory Pag-IBIG payments an additional burden for OFWs — groups
This is on top of the payments OFWs make to recruitment agencies when they collect health and training fees.
The group said Ople should also check the provisions of Republic Act No. 10022 or the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995
Migrante International noted that under the law, the government will only be responsible for the recruitment and deployment of OFWs if it is a "government-to-government" arrangement. They said giving recruitment agencies this responsibility goes against the provision
"We recall that Ms. Ople also lobbied for a bill at the lower house that offers incentive programs for private recruitment agencies including exemption to POLO verification for job orders for agencies and foreign employers deemed ‘ethical and fair,’" they said.
"Should she take up the post, Ms. Ople is challenged to fulfill the department’s language of ‘protection, rights, welfare, and services for migrant workers’ under the different government agencies it covers."