EDITORIAL - Job alternatives

With recent horror stories about the tragic fate of overseas Filipino workers in Kuwait, there is valid reason for President Duterte to consider banning the deployment of Filipinos to other countries where there are numerous reports of abuses or deaths of OFWs.

Any such ban, however, must be accompanied by intensified efforts to generate decent employment in the Philippines for both prospective and returning OFWs. Otherwise, there’s no stopping Filipinos from seeking greener pastures overseas. And those already working in the affected host countries could refuse to go home. 

Horror stories about OFWs, after all, have been common for a long time, but these have not stopped the exodus of Filipinos for better-paying jobs abroad. Neither have the stories led to a mass return of OFWs to the Philippines.

The reason is obvious, and unless this is addressed, no deployment ban will endure even in zones of armed conflict. Wages that Filipinos cannot hope to earn for the same type of work in their own country have been the biggest driving force behind the OFW phenomenon. Another reason is the sheer lack of employment opportunities in their own communities, which also drives urban migration within the Philippines.

Of an estimated 250,000 Filipinos working in Kuwait, not even one percent has so far opted to return to the Philippines, despite the tragedy that befell domestic helper Joanna Demafelis and several other Filipinas in the Gulf state. 

If the Duterte administration is seriously considering a total deployment ban in Kuwait and several other countries, it must be ready to offer decent employment alternatives in the Philippines. 

Creating job opportunities calls for long overdue reforms to make the country an easier place to do business. It requires better education to upgrade the skills of the nation’s workforce. Micro entrepreneurship needs greater support. Business groups have identified the most promising sectors including agriculture, tourism and the creative arts where meaningful jobs can be created. A ban on OFW deployment can only be as effective as the job alternatives available to Filipinos in their own land.