IS it simply neglect or is it deliberate?
As far as massive unemployment figures go, there is little doubt as to the crime of neglect on the part of the government. Employment is a basic constitutional mandate. How and why unemployment has reached such staggering highs in the recent twenty-year span needs thorough study.
It is doubtful, however, that neglect is the only reason. Any administration that knows fundamental economics will swear to buying power’s contribution to the overall economic state of the nation.
There is, of course, that nagging thought that while the government may be up and about trying to provide employment to most Filipinos, its idea of “employment” that is affordable and cheap—at least to government coffers—is something that can be found elsewhere. Let’s face it, the more there is unemployment in the country, there are more chances that Filipinos will move heaven and earth to find it in foreign soil. This brings some to conclude that unemployment may have become a strategy of the government to force Filipinos to seek greener pastures elsewhere.
To explain: Over 15 million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), to date, haggle for their daily living on foreign soil, with an average 6,000 leaving the country each day. According to militant youth and student organization Anak Bayan, that’s about a fourth of our labor force.
This translates to $26 billion in remittances, plus P150 million in processing-fee revenue per year. Let’s not even go to whatever taxes these OFWs pay for goods purchased and sent by balikbayan mail. These remittances have buoyed the Philippine economy like no other industry in the market today. In fact, it has safeguarded an economy bereft of manufactured products and empty of investments for years.
As far as the government is concerned, deploying millions of Filipinos overseas is a very lucrative industry. Hence, the country has a labor-export policy that pushes OFWs to gun for the mighty dollar.
The government spends very little for its labor-export policy—about P260 per OFW per year. Top this with a legal-assistance budget cut of a little over P100 million and further cuts in budget for OFW concerns of P600 million, and what do OFWs get in return? Nothing by way of government support. Close to a hundred OFWs are languishing in death row in several foreign prisons, seven of whom had already been executed.
No industry to date can compare with the level of foreign currency being brought in by OFWs year-in, year-out. The least the government could do is spend and build a support structure for Filipinos abroad, one that is solid enough to alleviate the risks of working in foreign soil.
Image credits: Jimbo Albano
2 comments
15 million Filipinos are now living and working abroad? If this is true then Noynoy has managed to achieve the most dubious achievements ever. Based on official government statistics, at the beginning of 2010, there were 8.5 million Filipinos living and working abroad. In only 5 years, Noynoy’s total lack of any program has managed to send 6.5 million Filipinos abroad to find a living abroad. And Noyny talks about having someone replace him to continue with his so-called legacy. To jail is where Noynoy belongs post 2016.
Check with Google shows only 2.3 million OFWs in 2013. I am all for improving the support of the government for our OFW’s. If we look at the support by the government for our OFW’s in the context of what the other 3rd world countries are providing their OXW’s, you will be surprised that our government appears to be the most supportive. It should be noted also that the highly skilled and college educated OFW’s are mostly employed locally but chose to work abroad for the lucrative remuneration and less stressful work situation. The category of OFW that the government should discourage are DH workers intending to work in the middle east. Those DH working in Asia (Singapore, Hongkong) are in a much much better situation than those in the middle east.