THEY ARE considered modern day heroes but they are treated like slaves abroad. This is how the Kilusan ng Manggagawang Kababaihan describes the situation of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) on the recent 28th death anniversary of Flor Contemplacion. Remember her? She was the Pinay migrant worker sentenced to death by hanging in Singapore after being handed a guilty verdict for the alleged murder of two individuals in 1991.
The story Flor Contemplacion shows two things – the inhumane and slave-like treatment of OFWs in migrant-receiving countries and the indifference to their concerns and well-being.
Has there been changes in the nearly three decades after Flor Contemplacion died?
The Philippine government continues to rely on the deployment of OFWs while reaping benefits from the dollar remittances they send back home which keep the country’s economy afloat. However, its track record in ensuring that the rights and welfare of OFWs are respected in other countries, especially women workers, is spotty at best.
Data from Migrante Philippines showed at least 15 million Filipinos live and work overseas. Nearly 6,000 people leave the country every day to look for job opportunities abroad. At the same time, around 8.7% of the country’s gross domestic product comes from the OFW remittances.
Many Filipino women are pushed to work abroad due to the lack of employment opportunities in the country. At least 59.6% of the OFWs in 2020 are women. However, the remittances they bring home are significantly smaller than of men since most Filipino women migrant workers are in jobs that are traditionally relegated to women such as domestic work and care giving that are usually precarious in nature and, in most cases, unregulated in host countries.
Worse, many of them have become victims of human trafficking and are vulnerable to various forms of abuses, violence and exploitation, illegal recruitment, contract substitution and debt bondage. One of the highlight cases include the story of Mary Jane Veloso, a victim of human trafficking who has been in Indonesian prison for more than a decade over alleged drug smuggling.
To reduce the need for our workers to leave the country, the government must implement necessary economic reforms to create better job opportunities with decent wages and benefits.
