BY THE WAY, ATTENTION OFWs!!! BASAHIN NYO ITO!!!! MAHALAGA ITO PARA SA OFWs!!!! Mr. Speaker: A growing number of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are revolting against the Philippine government’s plan to subcontract them to Saudi-based employers with some labelling the move as commodification of workers or making human beings mere commodities exactly like the slave trade of olden times. According to reports reaching the office of this Representation, the proposal is to make a select-few cartel or oligopoly of Philippine recruitment agencies and their counterpart cartel in Saudi Arabia as the sole sponsor and direct employer of OFWs in the Kingdom reducing OFWs into mere contractual personnel whose contracts will not even be directly between them and their final employers but merely between them and the cartel. The Philippine cartel will subcontract the OFWs to the Saudi cartel which will supply manpower to both public and private companies thereby making our OFWs non-employees of their employer but mere contractual personnel that can be paid the lowest possible salaries and wages with no fringe benefits and with no security of tenure whatsoever – making them vulnerable to abuse for fear of losing their jobs at the slightest displeasure of their employers. DoLE Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz visited Saudi Arabia recently, and reportedly signed an agreement with 10 big Saudi recruitment companies, which comprise the cartel mentioned earlier, which will allow this Saudi cartel recruit Filipino workers and rent them out to private and government employers. Although the good Secretary tells us that Saudi private and government employers may still recruit OFWs directly from the Philippines, this may be farthest from the actual truth once this scheme is implemented. This is because the said Saudi private and government employers will just be told by the Saudi cartel that they can hire OFWs at the cheapest minimum salaries and wages if they will get their OFWs from the said Saudi cartel. Sec. Baldoz is reportedly telling the public that this is based on a new Saudi law. However, OFWs in Saudi Arabia, together with their leaders, have uncovered that the Saudi law being cited by the good Secretary in trying to justify DOLE’s approval of this scheme is an old law which was also attempted to be foisted on our poor OFWs as early as 2003 and then again in 2009. Back then, this was called as the “Unified Contract” of the “Saudi National Recruitment Committee” or SANARCOM which is not even a government entity but a private entity which wanted to become the Saudi cartel that wanted to corner all recruitment of OFWs. As a backgrounder, the House Committee on Labor and Employment, which was then handling OFW Affairs prior to the creation of the House Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs and which was then headed by Rep. Roseller L. Barinaga, already came up with its findings that this same scheme that the DOLE acceded to or approved today is not only detrimental to our OFWs but even violates existing laws most especially the Magna Carta of OFWs or RA 8042. The said House Committee conducted five (5) hearings on February 26, 2003, March 5, 11 and 18, 2003 and January 21, 2004. Likewise, in 2009, the House Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs then chaired by Rep. Manuel “Way Kurat” Zamora not only came up with findings but with an officially- adopted resolution of the House of Representatives officially designated as House Resolution No. 342 “Expressing The Sense Of The House Of Representatives To Unconditionally And Permanently Reject, In Any Manner Or Form, The Proposed “Unified Contract” Of The Saudi National Recruitment Committee (Sanarcom) And Other Similar Contracts And/Or Schemes From Any Other Country That Is Being Implemented Or Being Proposed Or To Be Proposed In The Future”. The last phrase “to be proposed in the future” is based on the wisdom of the House of Representatives that there might again be, in the future, another attempt to foist this same scheme or another similar scheme on our poor OFWs. And that future, Mr. Speaker, sad to say, is now. For even if the DOLE will argue that the so-called “Mega Recruitment Agency” or MRA scheme of today is not exactly the same as the “Unified Contract” which the House of Representatives unconditionally and permanently rejected, it is, without question and doubt, a similar scheme to the “Unified Contract” that comes from the very same country of Saudi Arabia. Former Sectoral Representative Omar Fajardo of the OFW Sector, who is a distinguished former Member of this august chamber and who has a direct line of communication with a Saudi government official who is not only very close to the King but also is a constant companion of the King, is of the opinion that the King of Saudi Arabia, His Royal Highness Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, does not even know about this MRA scheme and will definitely not allow any law issued by the King to be used as a justification to impose an oppressive scheme on the King’s beloved OFWs whom the King has not hesitated to help in all aspects in countless number of times already since he assumed the throne in August, 2005 upon the death of his brother King Fahd. Aside from everything that I have stated, Mr. Speaker, it is also a must to mention here that the DOLE does not have the sole authority to negotiate labor agreements such as this MRA scheme without including in the said negotiations the Department of Foreign Affairs or DFA since we have a long-standing policy of the “One-Country Team Approach” when it comes to our dealings with foreign governments. The DOLE also did not even bother to consult this august House, not even the its Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs on an important matter such as this which will affect the freedom, rights and welfare of our OFWs. I said freedom, Mr. Speaker, because under this MRA scheme, our OFWs will be housed in what I prefer to call as “detention centers” while waiting for their final employers to fetch them and will be brought back again to these same “detention centers” once the said employers fire them from their jobs thereby making them virtual slaves of the 21st century. We all thought that slavery has been abolished, however, it is sad to witness our very own Department of Labor and Employment giving its nod, without the consent of this House and the DFA, and without the consent of the OFWs themselves, to an agreement that will institute modern-day slavery. Perhaps it is no accident that this year’s winner of the Oscar Awards is a movie entitled “Twelve Year A Slave”. Perhaps God in His eternal wisdom has made this movie win the Oscar so that we will never forget the evils of slavery and the sufferings it inflicts on human beings. Our OFWs are not only human beings but our compatriots, our constituents, the whole reason for our very being as their Representatives. And need I say, they are indeed our Heroes! Mr. Speaker, may I therefore request that this Privilege Speech of mine be immediately referred to the Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs so that an investigation in aid of legislation on this aberration or anomaly can be conducted as soon as possible. Thank you very much.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 03:30:48 +0000
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