[asia-apec 1277] MAGNA CARTA AGGRAVATES PLIGHT OF OFWS

[COURAGE]

MAGNA CARTA AGGRAVATES PLIGHT OF OFWS

Government employees called upon Estrada to repeal the Migrants
Act of 1995 or RA 8042 rather than insist on his very unpopular move of
rewriting the Philippine constitution. COURAGE said that RA 8042 is not only
useless but even worsens the plight of Overseas Filipino workers and even
threatens the employment of affected civil servants.

In its desperate act to save face after the execution of Flor Contemplacion,
an OFW in Singapore, the former Ramos administration passed the Magna Carta
for OFW. At first, one can conclude that in its haste the law was nothing
but a work of $(C(Bcut and paste$(D(B where existing mandates of government agencies
dealing with the overseas employment program were put together. But it was
not even a good compilation of the programs and services because it became a
venue for interest groups in the bureaucracy to grab each other's mandate
which now results to worse services due to confusion.

But in a deeper analysis, RA 8042 is a grand move to institutionalize the
flexible labor policy in the overseas employment program of the government.
The government has finally formally accepted that overseas employment is
part of its comprehensive employment program that conforms to global
policy on deregulation of labor.

Upon full deregulation of recruitment activities, the government need not
save its face for the next Contemplacion cases because it has extricated
itself from the responsibility in the deployment of OFWs. While still raking
billions form overseas workers the government can insist that the problems
of OFWs is a matter between them and the foreign employers. Meanwhile,
government officials and their friends who are also recruiters are 
given more freedom to engage in illegal recruitment activities.

Likewise, COURAGE will defend the jobs of government employees who will be
affected by the provision on deregulation of overseas employment. The
employees of POEA, which is set to be phased-out, have already made its
position against the move.###

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C O U R A G E
Confederation for Unity, Recognition & Advancement of Government Employees
"Advancing the Struggle Towards Genuine Public Sector Unionism"
P.O. Box AC 84, Araneta Center,
1135 Cubao, Quezon City, PHILIPPINES
New Telephone # (63-2) 365-72-11
Tel/Fax # (63-2) 363-46-75
new alternate email: <couragephils at yahoo.com>
emails: <courage at skyinet.net><courage12 at hotmail.com>
webpage:<http://www.skyinet.net/~courage/>