The migration of Filipino workers to foreign countries has escalated in the last decade. Approximately, ten percent of the 74 million Filipinos are migrants and immigrants scattered in 181 countries.
While for some businessmen, professionals, and other immigrants, the reason for migrating may have been the exercise of freedom to travel, work, and seek new domicile, this is not so for the majority of overseas Filipinos. The adoption by our government of the neo-liberal globalization scheme of the United States has resulted in the destruction of the domestic economy, the massive loss of jobs and livelihood, and the domination of foreign monopoly corporations.
Thus, because of extreme conditions of poverty and joblessness, and in some cases, because of persecution and armed conflicts, millions of job seekers migrate to other countries out of desperation and physical survival. They endured the pain of being separated from their families and children to work in foreign lands.
The contribution of the migrant workers to our economy cannot however be disputed. Migrant workers have been responsible for propping our country's economy for the past several years. Bank remittances of migrant workers in the year 2000 were pegged at $6.05B or P302B. For the first quarter of last year, the remittances of migrant workers amounted to $1.8B or P90B. Twenty percent (20%) of our population is directly dependent upon the incomes of Filipinos working abroad. Labor export has become the number one industry in the Philippines. Undoubtedly, the government has commodified Filipino labor in order to ease the growing unemployment problem, provide relief for the country's balance of payment deficits, and defuse internal social tensions.
Despite their undeniable contribution to the economy, migrant workers receive the least protection from our government. Migrant workers are often times victims of deceit and fraudulent practices committed by unscrupulous and illegal recruiters. Contract substitutions, excessive fees, promise of non-existent jobs, and extremely low wages are now common. Children and women are particularly vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Women have been victims of sexual assault, physical abuse, maltreatment, and other subhuman acts and practices.
During her State of the Nation Address, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo urged Congress to pass the Absentee Voting Bill that will allegedly give migrant workers total empowerment and will provide the solution to the worsening problems besetting our overseas Filipinos.
While the Committee on Filipino Migrants' Rights welcomes the passage of the Absentee Voting Act of 2001, it is still necessary to examine carefully the proposed bill in the context of how the proposed bill will benefit the migrant workers in general and if it provides the long-term solution to the migrants' problems.
The Committee believes that the right to suffrage is a most treasured right of any citizen; it is a fundamental and universal right enshrined in the Article 25 (b) of the UN Convention on Civil and Political Rights; and embodied in Article V, Sections 1 and 2 of our Constitution.
The right of suffrage must be extended to all Filipinos overseas who continue to contribute to the economy through remittances, tax payments, investments, and personal donations. Being potentially the most powerful bloc of votes in the country, migrant workers should remain a part of the selection of the country's leaders.
Unfortunately for the millions of Filipinos overseas, this right has long been denied to them. The proposed Absentee Voting Act of 2001 gives all qualified overseas Filipinos the right to vote in all national elections. It provides for a system of absentee registration and a procedure for application to vote in absentia.
Under the proposed bill, a Filipino citizen abroad, who is a holder of a valid Philippine passport and who possess all the qualifications to vote will be allowed to participate in the national elections.
For the first elections under the Absentee Voting Act, the absentee voting process for Filipinos overseas is seen to be very crucial in view of the estimated number of expected voters. The problems that may result from the implementation of the measure must be approached with a view to giving effect to the voter's intention.
In the implementation of the measure, massive information campaign on the absentee voting system must be conducted and the application for registration must be widely made available to migrant workers specifically to places where there are no consular and Philippine embassy offices. The government must also maximize the absentee voting process to regularize the undocumented and illegal workers whose numbers have increased in recent decades due to illegal recruitment, trafficking, human smuggling, over-staying and run-aways. The government must plan out and find ways to regularize the documents of these workers with assurances of immunity from prosecution and sympathetic attitude from consular officials. While the proposed Absentee Voting Act of 2001 gives the overseas Filipinos the right to vote in the national elections, the questions still remain: Will the proposed Absentee Voting Act of 2001 benefit the migrant workers? Does the proposed Act provide the solution to the worsening problems of the migrant workers?
It is an error for the government to state that the passage alone of the proposed Absentee Voting Act of 2001 will give total empowerment to the migrant workers. The empowerment of the migrant workers will not be achieved without putting forward an agenda or programs that will genuinely protect and promote the rights and welfare of the migrant workers. The proposed Absentee Voting Act is essentially an electoral reform that will give Filipino migrants an opportunity, though a limited one, to have a progressive voice in the elite-dominated elections.
It provides a good venue for migrant workers to collectively lobby and push for, among others, the following important issues: The repeal of the Deregulation and Phase-out provisions of Sections 29 and 30 of Republic Act No. 8042 or the Magna Carta of Migrant Workers; The repeal of anti-migrant memorandum circulars, rules, and department orders, such as Memorandum of Instruction No. 8, which allows OWWA through the POEA to collect US$25 for every contract of the migrant for the latter to be able to access government services abroad and in the country; Decisive action and diplomatic intervention for the immediate release and repatriation of unjustly imprisoned Filipinos abroad; And the immediate release of full Compensation to all Filipino Gulf War victims.
The Filipino migrant workers may very well take this as an aperture to organize and unite towards a common agenda that will promote their rights and welfare. It is well to emphasize, however, that while the proposed Act gives migrant workers a chance to push the migrants' agenda for essential reforms, it is an error to rely on the proposed Absentee Voting Bill alone to effectively protect and promote the rights of migrant workers. Most especially so that elections in our country are marred by vote buying, the use of flying voters, and the use of the so-called "guns", "goons" and "gold."
The migrant workers must go beyond the ballot box and must continue their collective actions. The experience of our migrant workers in Hong Kong taught us the importance of collective actions in defending their rights and benefits. Through their massive, continuous, and concerted actions, the migrant workers were able to suspend the planned wage cut of the Hong Kong Government on foreign domestic helpers.
The proposed Absentee Voting Act of 2001 will certainly serve as an additional venue for migrant workers in pushing their legitimate demands and lobbying for the migrants' agenda. The migrant workers should maximize this opportunity. However, simultaneously with this, the migrant workers must, using their skills, deep commitment and dedication to raise social awareness, unite with the other sectors and continue to lobby for support from various groups and organizations. They must develop unity and militancy and principally rely on their mass and collective actions to achieve their goals.
Reference:
Atty. Rachel F. Pastores
Executive Director
IBP-Committee on Filipino Migrants' Rights
Integrated Bar of the Philippines
Committee On Filipino Migrant Workers' Rights
c/o Public Interest Law Center,
4th Floor Kaija Bldg.,
cor. Valdez Street, Makati Avenue, Makati City
Tel. No. 899-3439; Telefax: 899-34-16
See also: Materials on Overseas Voting
