THE SUPREME Court recently allowed Filipina death row inmate Mary Jane Veloso, a suspected drug mule, to testify against her alleged recruiters through deposition in Indonesia. This could save her from execution there.
In 1995, Flor Contemplacion was hanged in Singapore. Twenty-four years have passed since her execution yet nothing seems to have changed. Many Filipino migrant workers abroad are still in death row despite the Magna Carta for Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos which is supposed to protect them.
The magna carta (Republic Act 8042) institutes policies for the promotion and protection of the welfare of migrant workers, their families and overseas Filipinos. It was enacted in June 1995 several months after Contemplacion’s execution. However, several administrations have passed and OFWs are still at risk not only in the hands of their employers but also in raging wars in countries like those in the Middle East. The protection is just in paper. In reality, the dangerous labor export policy of the nation is being intensified because the remittances of OFWs contribute to the country’s economy.
If only there are jobs available in the country, no Filipino will go abroad, no family will be broken, no children will be left by their mothers. The lack of jobs and land to till in rural areas are the reasons why Filipinos risk life and limb just to work abroad.
The challenge to the government is to create more jobs for the people. This is most imperative even now because of the escalating violence and conflicts in the Middle East where there are thousands of Filipinos working. Nothing short of the reversal of the present system will put an end to forced migration.
There are already some 12 million Filipino workers around the world, and an estimated 4,500 OFWs leave daily to work abroad. For as long as there is poverty, no domestic jobs available, and prices of commodities continue to soar sky-high, Filipinos will be forced to seek employment abroad despite the global economic crisis that continues to displace thousands of OFWs or place them on imminent danger of war. It’s a never-ending vicious cycle that will only end if fundamental reforms are in place.
