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Migrante, a militant global migrant workers’ alliance, is mulling
over the recent “throwing of support” by the Saudi National
Recruitment Committee (SANARCOM) to the Philippine government’s
policy on the deployment of household service workers, or its
‘Supermaids’ program.
“SANARCOM’s sudden endorsement of Gloria
Arroyo’s Supermaids program is highly suspect, given that just
last year, SANARCOM was among the staunchest oppositors of its
sweeping deployment rules” said Maita Santiago, Migrante
secretary-general.
On March 2007, the Philippine Overseas
Employment Administration (POEA) started implementing rules
governing the deployment of Filipino domestic workers. Among others,
the minimum salary of departing domestic workers was raised from
$200 to $400.
Included in POEA’s guidelines are rules
increasing the minimum age requirement to 23, and compulsory testing
and accreditation by the Technical Education and Skills Development
Authority (Tesda).
More than half of all overseas Filipino workers
(OFWs) are women, with majority toiling as domestic workers.
POEA’s guidelines was opposed by OFWs and
local recruiters, saying that this could translate to huge
employment and job market loss. Until recently, Saudi recruiters
were also opposed to the said rules.
“The Philippine Government could not have just
sweet talked its way into convincing the Saudi recruiters to agree
with its policy, [but it] must have presented a deal that the Saudis
couldn’t afford to refuse. And this is what scares us,” Santiago
said.
“Given that the Philippine government’s
priority lies more on seizing the huge Saudi Arabian labor market,
rather than attending to the needs of our OFWs in the Kingdom, we
have all the reason to fear that the government could have
surrendered yet again the rights and welfare of OFWs just to earn
SANARCOM’s nod” she added.
Santiago now asks Labor Secretary Arturo Brion:
“What is Saudi Arabia getting in exchange for their support and
what was the Philippines’ sweet offer, if any, that made them take
a drastic U-turn?”
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is host to almost a
million OFWs, many employed as domestic helpers. In 2006, the
Philippines deployed 223, 459 OFWs to the kingdom, a hefty 28.4
percent increase from the previous year’s 194,350.
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