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INSTEAD
of psychiatric tests, the government must adopt measures
to protect migrant Filipino workers from abuses that are
the usual causes of mental illnesses among them.
This was
the proposal of militant legislators even as they
strongly opposed the proposed mandatory psychiatric
testing of departing Filipino workers by the Department
of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
Party-list Reps. Luzviminda Ilagan and Liza Maza of
Gabriela, Satur Ocampo and Teodoro Casiño of Bayan Muna
and Rafael Mariano of Anakpawis filed House Resolution
765 urging the DFA and the Philippine Overseas
Employment Administration to review their policies and
measures in protecting migrant workers, especially
female domestic help, as they are the most vulnerable to
traumatic abuses.
The
legislators said the DFA should acknowledge that it is
actually the deplorable working conditions abroad, such
as verbal, physical, emotional and sexual abuses,
torture and nonpayment of wages that drive migrant
workers, especially domestic help, to the brink of
insanity.
They
cited a study by Migrante International’s Welfare
Committee, which showed that for every 10 Filipino
migrants who have committed crimes, seven were declared
insane.
Migrante
cited that the actions of Marilou Ranario and May Vecina,
Filipino domestic help in Kuwait who were sentenced to
death for killing their respective employers, were a
result of the human-rights violations they experienced
in the hands of their abusive employers and the lack of
a support system to help them during their time of need.
The
legislators said the inhumane conditions at the
workplace and existing cases of abuses are what should
be given immediate attention by the government.
They
also took note of Migrante’s observation about the lack
of an existing agreement on migrant-worker protection
between the Philippine government and the host
countries, as well as the adoption of a unified contract
system wherein migrant workers are required to sign a
different contract when they arrive in the Middle East.
Migrante
further noted that migrant workers already undergo a
series of costly medical examinations, including mental
health exams, as a requirement before they can work
abroad. Hence, the legislators said, the psychiatric
test will only add to the already burdensome and
excessive fees exacted from them by government and
recruitment agencies.
Earlier,
Esteban Conejos Jr., foreign affairs undersecretary for
migrant worker affairs, said the proposed psychiatric
testing aims to provide additional protection to
household-service workers amid the rising number of
Filipinos involved in crimes abroad. He said that seven
out of 10 domestic workers on death row have a history
of insanity as he cited as proof the cases of Ranario
and Vecina, who were later found to be mentally
unstable. |
