MANILA – Sen. Leila de Lima suggested designating “human rights attachés” in select Philippine embassies and consulates to address cases of human rights violations against overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
“It is unfortunate that our overseas workers have always been subjected to abuses and harassments,” said de Lima.
“They work night and day, often in difficult and dangerous conditions, just to be able to provide better opportunities for their families here,” she added.
Her proposal was contained in Senate Bill 1230, which seeks to amend the charter of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) as the national human rights institution, and strengthen its powers and functions.
Recent reports of harassments on Filipinos overseas should compel the government to designate human rights attachés in countries where domestic workers are most vulnerable to exploitation, said de Lima.
Recently a female OFW from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia committed suicide to evade sexual advances by her employer’s son-in-law.
“Sexual harassment is one of the most appalling offenses that can be committed against OFWs … because it steps into their very dignity as individuals,” said de Lima, chairwoman of the Senate committee on social justice, welfare and rural development.
The case already reached the Philippine Embassy and the Department of Foreign Affairs but the two offices asked the victim’s husband to “wait and see,” claimed de Lima.
De Lima also cited the case of an OFW whose parents were disappointed by the government’s failure to repatriate their daughter five months after she released a video seeking help because she was allegedly sexually abused by her employer.
“The safety and welfare of OFWs should always be the government’s top priority,” she said. “If saving some of them from abusive employers means getting them back to the country, then the government must do it as soon as possible.”
De Lima, a former CHR chief, also sought to amend – via Senate Bill 1785 – Section 23 of Republic Act 8042 to highlight the invaluable role of the CHR in human rights education of OFWs and in providing legal assistance to them./PN
