Pinoys in a globalized world

Thursday, August 18. 2011

The crucial question is who are we as a people? From my personal experiences I note three prominent characteristics that are typically Pinoy.

The first one is the strong family and clan “connectedness”. Pinoys may find themselves in the remotest part of any continent or in the middle of the ocean; they may live in foreign lands for years and even centuries; yet they always find their way home, the Philippines.

But the Philippines, for most Pinoys, is not the group of islands now called the Republic of the Philippines. It is first and foremost the kin and kith – the ancestors, the clan and the family. Home is in their hearts and blood.

The powerful symbol of this ‘connectedness’ is the world famous “balikbayan boxes for ‘pasalubong’. At airports everywhere, balikbayan boxes are marks of Pinoys ‘coming home’. But these boxes also traveled by all kinds of couriers – accompanied or not - they all go to the Philippines as if the whole world is being “delivered” to the motherland box by box.

The movement is also two-way. Pinoys also “import” their closest kin and kith the very moment they get their legal papers. They begin petitioning them one at a time and soon they build a small barangay or network of kinfolks in their adopted land.

Second to family and clan is, believe it or not, patient work and discipline. You find Pinoys doing all kinds of jobs and odd jobs. They work and they are NOT beggars and they pay their taxes. In many instances, Pinoys have dual jobs and they still work on weekends! They obey rules and they are good citizens notwithstanding the Philippines’ notoriety for “palusot” and "connection".

But the real miracle is the fact that notwithstanding difficulty and hard work, they are happy. There is always a smile on their faces and there is laughter in their lives that they can even make jokes out of their tragedies! Pinoys are a happy people and a happy nation even in moments of passing insanity.

The third is faith and tradition. Pinoys are known for their belief and traditions. The Visayans bring their Santo Niño; the Tagalogs their Nazareno; Bicolanos their Peñafrancia; the Ilocanos their Santa Lucia; the Pampangos their Pedro and Santiago, and Zamboangeños their Nuestra Señora del Pilar, etc. They, too, have their Pasyon, Visita Iglesia and Misa de Gallo. These faith and tradition are uniquely Pinoys and they have become not only the soul but also the bulwark of strength against adversities and challenges, in foreign lands.

Today people admire Mother Theresa or Oscar Romero or Martin Luther King Jr. or Desmond Tutu or Nelson Mandela, or our very own Cory Aquino not because of their achievements but for the values and beliefs they stood for. They believed and lived with integrity and no embarrassment.

In similar vein, Pinoys will endure. And they are recognized by their fidelity to the values and traditions they stand for. These three values are family, joyful hard work and their faith & traditions.

Pinoys, notwithstanding the difficulties they've face, have found a way to successfully write their story line. It is the story of their family, tribe and clan. It is a “kindredness” shaped not only by blood, but also by the “ili” – the community and eco-system. And Pinoys are darn proud of their story and they share it with the world with a smile on their faces and joy in their hearts.

How overseas Filipinos can win the battle against unbearable utang

Kuwento

By Benjamin Pimentel
8:17 pm | Wednesday, August 17th, 2011


SAN FRANCISCO —Tony Ranque worked for years in Saudi Arabia where he faced a dilemma other overseas Filipinos have probably encountered: The longer he worked abroad, the bigger his debt grew.

“Imagine the worst situation, when my credit cards, all five of them, were used up to their maximum credit limits,” he told me.

Eventually, overwhelming financial burden combined with the strain of separation led to the collapse of his marriage.

Today, Tony is one of many Filipinos using their experiences to take on a pressing need: Helping other overseas Pinoys and their families become smarter with money and debt.

There’s so much to explore on this subject. Readers have helped me do just that by sharing their own stories on their struggles with financial burdens — particularly with unbearable utang.

One U.S. reader tells of a Pinay whose relationships failed over disagreements over her desire to send $700 a month to her family back home.

Another reader spoke of Filipinos who worked on cruise ships who told him how “the amount they sent [to families] amounted to nothing later on.” One of them turned to drinking to forget his anger and frustration, he said.

An OFW from Saudi also wrote me about how she moved to the Middle East in order to pay off her debts, but the process has taken longer than she expected. She’s struggling to explain to her family “why I’m not sending much,” she said.

But she’s also gearing up “toward the positive side,” she added, “after having the strength to say NO to some requests.”

By the “positive side,” she meant that state in which she’s in control of her finances. It’s an important state to be in as the world slips into another time of economic uncertainty.

Dr. Macky Galvez, a pediatrician based in Manila, spoke of his own work with OFWs and their families, in a local cooperative. That experience brought home a key realization.

“OFWs should and must undergo financial literacy to protect and harness their money which is more often lost and squandered,” he said.

Let’s affirm a key premise here: Overseas Filipinos perform a vital role by sending money back home to help their families. But there’s also a growing need for families to find better ways to manage funds coming from abroad.

And we’re not talking about totally avoiding debt. In many cases, as I’ve noted, debt is necessary to meet a need.

But there’s such a thing as smart debt and dumb debt. Worse, there is unbearable utang — debt that becomes so overwhelming that overseas Filipinos end up wearing themselves out as they find themselves trapped in a vicious cycle.

Charito Basa, an OFW advocate based in Europe, listed four general principles for overseas Filipinos and their families (which actually applies to everyone in this time of crisis):


Have a budget and stick it to it no matter what

“There’ll be special requests from family and friends that will tempt migrants to deviate from their budget,” she says. “Be firm. People will eventually understand that they are doing it for the good of everyone.”


Save first, before spending (not the other way around)

Set aside a fixed amount for savings. Charito recommends at least 10 percent of one’s income. She and Tony Ranque point to the tested formula for sound personal finance management: Income minus Savings equals Expenses.

“Saving a portion of your income is a must, not an option,” Tony says. “If you cannot develop the habit of savings which is founded on discipline, force yourself to save by getting pension plans and other types of pre-need plans.”


Have insurance (health, education, retirement, pensions)

“When done through reputable companies, insurance plans can guarantee that needs are attended professionally and that funds are available when most needed,” says Charito.


Stay away from “get-rich-quick” schemes

This rule also applies to everyone.

Imagine this: Someone’s offering you some investment plan with eye-popping returns. Sounds tempting. But the smart approach is to ask very tough, detailed questions. Or simply walk away. Chances are it’s either a wild scheme, or even a scam.

There are many groups offering financial literacy training to overseas Filipinos and their families.

Charito cites the work of Atikha Overseas Workers and Communities Initiative which gives hands-on budgeting training. The group also conducts training sessions for overseas workers on such topics as “How to say NO,” “When to say NO,” and “Why the need to say NO.”

For some Filipinos like Tony Ranque, getting out of the debt cycle meant making tough, even painful, decisions.

This happened when he turned 50 several years ago. Frustrated with the seemingly endless cycle of work and debt, he began setting a different course.

“I slowly paid all my debts until I was debt free.” He then quit his job in Saudi Arabia, and started all over — back in the Philippines.

He invested his savings, including starting an e-learning center/Internet café in his hometown in Bohol.

Tony’s story may be unique. Other Filipinos, especially those helping out families with serious needs, may have a harder time breaking out of the cycle. But his experience at least shows there’s a way out for others.

Tony eventually became a regular speaker at financial literacy seminars geared to overseas Filipinos and their families. During one seminar, he told his audience about some of his former fellow workers in Saudi Arabia who, to his surprise, asked to be rehired in that country – even after they had reached retirement age.

“Sino kaya ang mas mapalad sa ngayon? Ako na nakauwi na, na ang buhay ay halos masasabing ‘isang kahig, isang tuka?’ O iyong mga dati kong kasamahan sa Saudi na inabot na ng retirement age doon eh nagpa-rehire pa?”

(“Who’s luckier? I who was able to come home and now lives a simple life? Or my former colleagues in Saudi Arabia, who ended up working there until they retired —and now is asking to be re-hired?”)

He makes less money now than when he was working abroad, Tony told me. But he’s happier.  “I believe I am now living a more fulfilling life than ever before.”

On Twitter @KuwentoPimentel. On Facebook at facebook.com/benjaminpimentel.

Utang in America and beyond: Who’s mayabang, FilAms or OFWs?

Kuwento

By Benjamin Pimentel
3:19 pm | Saturday, August 13th, 2011 

SAN FRANCISCO—My column on indebtedness and U.S. Filipinos prompted this blunt assertion from a reader based in Saudi Arabia.

“OFW’s are not mayabang, unlike FilAms who portray themselves as mayaman, but in fact, they are rich in debt and cursed to debt to sustain their rich-like lifestyle.”

A range of responses naturally followed, including this from another reader, who also worked in Saudi Arabia, but is now based in the U.S.

“Para sa akin, working in Saudi Arabia deserves our appreciation dahil mahirap talaga ang mangibang-bayan, at tumira rin ako ng matagal sa bansang yan—it’s really hard to leave one’s country. Pero ang ayaw ko lang ay [what I don’t want is] to call us all FilAms as ‘mayabang’? That’s very unfair.”

A fair, sensible response in what was in fact was a pointless dispute. (How in the world do you measure “yabang” anyway?)

But the mini-debate does open up an opportunity to talk about such issues as money, personal finance, debt and what an increasingly gloomy global economy means for overseas Filipinos most of whom left home for a key reason: To provide for their families in the Philippines.

It’s also a chance to drill down deeper into the subject of utang and its role in the expanding world of overseas Filipinos.

As we all know, the role they play is critical.

In 2010 alone, overseas Pinoys sent roughly $19 billion, making the Philippines the fourth largest recipient of remittance funds after India, China and Mexico, according to Philippine and World Bank data.

A big chunk of that money comes from U.S. Filipinos. But the rash of bad news — the downgrade, the market freefall, high unemployment — is bad news for that money flow.

“Increasing joblessness and prolonged recession will decrease the amount of remittances as past experience shows,” my friend Richard Cavosora, a social entrepreneur and an officer at Remit4Change.

For that’s what happened in the last market slump.

When the U.S. economy hit the skids in 2008, the rate of growth of U.S. Filipino remittances fell to three percent from 16 percent the previous year, Richard said citing data from the Central Bank of the Philippines.

With the U.S. economy still struggling, remittances fell six percent, or roughly $500 million, in 2009. When the economic outlook improved, they went back up. With another downturn looming, another decline is likely.

However, Richard points to one interesting data point: When remittances from the U.S. took a hit in 2009, Pinoy remittances from other countries actually went up.

“In short, the loss from the US was made up with gains of from all other countries,” he said.

The reason is clear: the Filipino Diaspora has expanded so dramatically over the past 25 years. The Pinoy money flow has gone global!

And the flow is being fuelled by a powerful motivator.

Richard cites an academic who in a 2008 survey of Pinoy remitters here in the Bay Area, concluded Filipinos tend to have “two homes and two hearts.” That is, they live in the U.S., but still are linked, emotionally and even financially, to their hometowns.

Nearly all of those surveyed in that study — 92 percent — said they work “to earn, save, and help kin.” In fact, as I noted in a previous column, when times are tough, and their paychecks aren’t big enough, Filipinos in the U.S. even borrow just to be able to send money home.

It’s a reality that Charito Basa, who moved to Italy to work as domestic helper and then became an advocate for overseas Filipinos, has seen in Italy and other parts of Europe. It’s also a reality she finds troubling.

“I’m very alarmed on this issue, because majority of the cases we confront here are about utang!” she told me.

“Migrants save and do a lot of sacrifices,” she added. And she shares a striking insight from her interviews with community leaders in different European cities:  90 percent of their members owe money to banks, lending companies and loan sharks.

And the push to send funds back home is so great, she said, “that many domestic workers here are sending and spending more than their capacity to earn.”

It’s a troubling trend, especially in a time of grave global economic crisis.

In her work and personal life, Charito says, she has met Filipinos “who are very worried also because nakalubog na sila sa utang” — they are buried in debt.

The people Charito quotes in a 2004 study of migrant Pinoys also complain of how their hard-earned money sometimes going to waste.

“They don’t know how hard it is to earn money here,” one says.

“When I send money to my parents, I always tell them to spend it wisely because it’s not that easy to earn money here,” says another.

Charito affirmed the view that “big spending or borrowing on education is in fact investment” and so are the funds used for health care expenditures for families in the Philippines.

But there are times, she stressed, when overseas Filipinos simply take on unnecessary debt burden.  In some cases, it’s an odd, even destructive, form of yabang, she said.

“Kaya daw sila nagkakautang (the reason they go into debt) is because of the high expectations back home,” she said. ” Isinusumpa sila (they’ll be denounced) if they don’t give!”

She was speaking from experience.

In her years as an expat, she helped a brother set up an auto mechanic shop, and bought a fishing boat for another brother, and land for the family. The business ventures failed for various reasons, including neglect and mismanagement.

That was when she became interested in such issues as financial literacy and education for OFWs. Overseas Filipinos, she now believes, must set limits, must have clear, realistic goals based on how much money they can earn.

And just as important, she argues, they must also take care of themselves.

There came a point when she became so frustrated with yet another story of funds sent home by an OFW that ended up going to waste, that she told a kumadre in Rome, “That’s enough, don’t send them anything anymore. More money will go into waste! Mag-ipon ka na lang muna. Save the money first.”

But overall, her focus is for her fellow OFWs to be exposed to more financial literacy and planning.

I know others are focused on that goal too. It is a subject worth exploring in depth. If you have ideas on this subject, send me an e-mail at kuwentopimentel@gmail.com.

On Twitter @KuwentoPimentel. On Facebook at facebook.com/benjaminpimentel

Saudi

Pinoy Kasi
By: Michael L. Tan
Philippine Daily Inquirer
4:53 am | Wednesday, July 20th, 2011

There was a time when “Saudi” became a verb in the Philippines, as in “mag Saudi,” meaning to work overseas. During the 1970s, when government made it an official policy to export Filipino workers, the main target was Saudi Arabia. Over the years, the destinations have become much more diverse, but Saudi still remains an important market, with some 1.3 million Filipinos working there.

Now comes news that Saudi Arabian officials are going to seriously implement “Saudization,” which means getting more local people to take on the jobs currently held by foreigners. The Saudi government announced that effective August 1, it would impose a moratorium on the hiring of new Indonesian and Filipino maids.

Yet, amid the panic over thousands of Filipinos having to come home from Saudi, I am wondering if Saudization is only part of a broader strategy on the part of Saudi officials to bargain over the conditions of foreign workers.

Saudization was announced as early as 2006 but has been going very slowly. This program includes incentives for companies that would move in the direction of hiring more local employees. There was also a Nitaqat system where companies would be color-coded according to the composition of their work force. Green companies are those where at least 10 percent are Saudi nationals. These companies will continue to be able to hire foreigners as long as they keep that minimum percentage. Companies where Saudi nationals comprise less than 10 percent of the total will have to phase out foreigners, with no new working permits for the ones who have stayed in Saudi for more than six years. Finally, “red” companies are those that have no local employees at all, and will not be given permits to hire any more foreigners.

If Saudization is to be seriously implemented, it would mean that the relatively unskilled foreign workers would be at greatest risk of being sent home. Unfortunately, this includes many Filipinos, for example, those working as domestic helpers.

News reports now carry estimates of the number of Filipinos who might lose jobs with Saudization. Our government estimates “only” about 140,000 Filipinos would lose their jobs but other reports from the recruiting firms project that as many as 350,000 might lose their jobs.

Fears of a shrinking job market are not just for Saudi but for other Middle Eastern countries which are also talking about getting more local people to work. Thus we read now of “Emiratization,” “Omanization” and “Qatarization.”

Behind the scenes

I would have just shrugged my shoulders and say that Saudization was inevitable but over the weekend, while searching for information on the Internet about a CNN feature, I stumbled on a news item that is making me wonder if there’s more to all this than just Saudization.

Last June 16, the Saudi government beheaded an Indonesian maid, Ruyati binti Sapubi, on charges of murder. There was national outrage and grief over the execution in Indonesia, especially because Saudi officials did not inform the Indonesian government about the date of the execution.

A second Indonesian maid, Darsem binti Dawud Tawar, was then scheduled for beheading for killing a relative of her employer. The Indonesian woman pleaded self-defense, claiming the man had tried to rape her. This time, with strong public pressure to take action, the Indonesian government agreed to pay diyat or “blood money” to relatives of the slain man. The diyat was 2 million riyals or $533,000. The Indonesian maid was released and was able to fly home to Indonesia.

Indonesians, however, continued to push their government to negotiate for more humane working conditions. The Indonesian government announced they would begin a moratorium on sending more maids to Saudi.

At around the same time, our government was also negotiating with Saudi Arabia for a minimum monthly salary of $350 for domestic helpers. The Saudis were said to have objected, saying they were willing to go only up to $200.

Then the Saudi government turned the tables around and declared their own August 1 moratorium on hiring.

Broad alliance

Indonesian and Filipino labor officials should be talking to each other and forming an alliance to better bargain with the Saudis.

When Indonesia began to accelerate its export of laborers, it looked to the Philippines for model policies because we began much earlier sending workers overseas. Unfortunately, in the area of domestic workers, the Indonesians may have inadvertently made it more difficult for Filipinos to assert their rights when they jumped on this labor export bandwagon. In Hong Kong, for example, some employers have shifted away from Filipinos to hire Indonesian and Nepali women, who are said to be more docile and obedient than Filipinos. Many Hong Kong employers have however continued to hire Filipinos because our women still have an edge in terms of English proficiency and education, what with nannies having degrees in care giving, education, midwifery and occasionally nursing.

Whenever I am in Hong Kong I visit NGOs that work to protect domestic helpers in general, especially those from Indonesia and Nepal. Not surprisingly, the NGOs are run mainly by Filipinos, including some who are themselves domestic helpers.

In Saudi Arabia, Filipinos have less democratic space to assert their rights, and are more likely to be in a similar situation as Indonesians in terms of poor working conditions and risks such as sexual harassment. The story of the two Indonesian maids remind us of what our own women have gone through, not only in Saudi but also in more hospitable, but still difficult, environments like Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan. The fact is that Indonesian and Filipino domestic helpers are seen almost like slaves in Saudi, to be used and abused.

Some of the Internet articles about Darsem binti Dawud Tawar had photographs of her reunited with a very young son. It turns out the boy was just a baby when she left in 2006. The rape and the murder took place in 2009. It was five years since she left Indonesia, and if it had not been for the government paying the diyat, her son would have never seen her again.

We have had so many similar stories and it’s time to ask if it is all worth the riyals and dollars. It is heartbreaking to read that Saudis feel $200 is all our maids deserve. That’s about P8,600, way below what a minimum wage earner would get in a month here in Metro Manila. We know of course that such jobs are still hard to find, so it’s the ones in most need, like those with very young children, who will have to leave and work overseas.

Much now will depend on the efforts and negotiating acumen of the governments of the Philippines and Indonesia to find ways to protect our workers. The Saudis are playing the game with Saudization as a gambit. They will be watching our next move.

An answer to ‘Saudization’

At Large
By: Rina Jimenez-David
Philippine Daily Inquirer 
5:02 am | Tuesday, July 12th, 2011

In truth we have had more than 30 years to “prepare” for the avalanche of bad news emanating from the Middle East (specifically Saudi Arabia) and Northern Africa (specifically Libya).

The bad news trickled first from Libya, where escalating conflict between local rebels and Nato forces and Libyan forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi have put thousands of Filipino workers there at risk. Already, dramatic TV footage has shown Pinoy workers fleeing their homes and places of work amid gunfire and street fighting to board ships and planes bound for the Philippines.

Even more alarming is the news from Saudi Arabia, where more than a million OFWs work as domestics, construction workers, nurses and doctors, and as other professionals. It was Saudi Arabia, in fact, which was one of the first destinations for Filipino workers so much so that “Saudi” has become shorthand for any foreign destination for a migrant worker.

Lately, the Saudi government has put in place a policy called “Nitaqat” or Saudization, meant to encourage the employment of more Saudi Arabians by private firms. This may in part be prompted by rising unemployment among Saudi youths, with some reports stating that more than 27 percent of Saudis below 30 years are out of work.

Also part of the equation are more stringent conditions being attached by the Philippine government to the employment of Filipinos in Saudi Arabia, including a minimum of $400 monthly salary and the disclosure of the names of future employers and places of employment that seek to hire OFWs.

A news report in yesterday’s Inquirer revealed another tactic in this policy of “Saudization.” And that is the stamping of the passports of departing workers with “for exit only,” making those who go home for vacation or to process new contracts ineligible to return to Saudi Arabia. For this reason, OFWs in that country are supposedly reluctant to take advantage of their mandated home leaves, unwilling to go through what some workers and their families have experienced upon their arrival in Saudi Arabia.
* * *

Talks are reportedly going on between representatives of both the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Labor and Saudi officials regarding the implementation of the policy. Though Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz says that the Philippine government has not been officially notified of the new policy by Saudi authorities, some Saudi officials have already said they want the minimum wage requirement to be cut by half.

Time will tell if “nitaqat” is simply a negotiation tactic of the Saudi government against governments (Indonesia joins the Philippines among the countries affected) seeking fairer and more advantageous terms for their citizens; or if it is a policy born of economic and social realities that need to be addressed.

Asked for a reaction from Malacañang, all Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte could say was that the Palace was “confident that there were alternative destinations that could absorb OFWs” affected by the new policy.

As for giving workers who could be expelled or not allowed to return from Saudi Arabia alternative employment, Valte cited a livelihood training and assistance program, including packages that provide training and assistance for food processing, garments, beauty shops or computer shops.
* * *

Such a listing is rather underwhelming, and I’m sure for those workers forced to abandon secure, well-paying and rewarding jobs in the Kingdom, such government programs can offer only temporary relief, if at all, from their anxiety and insecurity.

From the moment the first overseas workers were shipped out, the government should have put in place programs to offer alternative employment or income-generating activities to the workers in the event their employment came to an end or, as in the case of disasters or armed conflict such as in Libya, they were forced to evacuate.

Labor export, after all, began as merely a stop-gap measure to provide “temporary” work for the unemployed. But instead of being seen as a temporary emergency measure, labor export was institutionalized, rising in importance and necessity as the economy failed to catch up with the increasing number of jobless youth, and population growth began to outstrip economic growth. Previous administrations even began to act as labor brokers, negotiating with foreign governments for more jobs for Filipinos, and offering ever more attractive terms for foreign employers. In the process, they neglected the need to prepare the country for eventualities such as those in Libya and Saudi Arabia.

Worse, foreign jobs began to attract the better skilled and educated, sapping the economy of the “best and brightest” among our citizens, while expanding the gap between the labor pool and the skills needed by government and private firms.
* * *

Indeed, if Saudi Arabia now has “Saudization” in place, we have long needed “Filipinization.”

While it may be unrealistic to expect a total or even partial ban on employment in Saudi Arabia—every citizen, after all, has the right and freedom to travel whether for employment or pleasure—it may be time for the government to address these difficulties on the home front.

The answer lies not just in talking with Saudi officials for better terms or less onerous regulations, but also in preparing OFWs for realistic alternative employment or income generating. It also means prepping the economy so that both private and public employers can absorb the numbers of returning workers. This is not an easy task, and these balik-OFWs would be competing with the thousands of graduates and out-of-school youth searching for jobs. But the returning workers will bring with them experience and training, which should prove a distinct advantage.

Baldoz twits Migrante over ‘false report’

By Philip C. Tubeza
Philippine Daily Inquirer  
3:48 am | Tuesday, July 12th, 2011 

MANILA, Philippines—Labor Secretary Rosalinda D. Baldoz on Monday disputed the claim of the migrant workers group Migrante International that Saudi Arabia immigration officials were starting to stamp “exit only” on passports of vacationing overseas Filipino workers because of the kingdom’s “Saudization” labor policy.

Baldoz said in a statement that the stamping of “exit only” on passports of vacationing OFWs was “not possible” because Saudi exit/reentry visas issued by Saudi Arabia’s passport department, or Jawasat, could not be changed by immigration authorities at the country’s airports.

“Labor Attaché Albert Valenciano said the report is false. He has checked with immigration officers who had denied the report and who had said that ‘if it is an exit/reentry visa then it cannot be changed at the airports’,” Baldoz said.

In his report, Valenciano assailed Migrante, saying it was playing up negative effects of the Saudization policy and urged the organization to be “more responsible” by producing the passport pages of the OFWs onto which the alleged “exit only” visa had been stamped.

Migrante itself on Monday claimed that 22 expatriates had lost their jobs since the Saudization policy was announced last month.

Valenciano explained that “final exit in Saudi Arabia is stamped only after a series of steps” taken by both the employee and the employer.

He said the steps included the issuance of a release letter or no objection certificate (NOC) from the employer stating that it was giving its consent to release the worker and to send him home to his mother country.

The worker then had to sign a final settlement in which the worker acknowledged that he had received all his monetary claims from his employer, Valenciano said.

In Congress, party-list Rep. Eulogio “Amang” Magsaysay on Monday asked the House committees on overseas workers affairs and labor and employment to jointly conduct an inquiry on the effects of Saudization on OFWs and the economy. With a report from Cynthia Balana

OFW's book tells the untold stories behind remittances

09-Jul-11, 9:32 AM | 

Emmalyn L. Kotte, 

special to InterAksyon.com 

BONN, Germany - “The media should not always talk about how much remittance we send home.  They must look at the sufferings we have to go through to send money back, how people exploit us both in the Philippines and overseas while our government is not doing enough to stop this.”

This was Papias Banados’ message to journalists at the Global Media Forum in Bonn, Germany on June 21 where the 39-year old Davaoena, who has worked as a domestic helper in Kuwait and in Singapore for the past 16 years, spoke about her recently published book. 

“The Path to Remittance - Tales of Pains and Gains of Overseas Filipino Workers” is a collection of short stories based on real-life experiences of Filipino domestic helpers in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. It was edited by Dr. Kalinga Seneviratne of the Singapore-based Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC).

At the Bonn conference, Banados talked about the three main issues she brings out in her book: the excessive placement fees that recruitment agencies charge overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), the constant demand from OFWs’ families “for money and always more money,” and the unwanted pregnancies that force many Filipino women to seek overseas employment. 

Excessive placement fees

Banados cited cases of OFWs who do not get salaries for the first seven to eight months because the employment agencies that recruit them in Manila get their wages as payment for the job placement and airline tickets. These agencies also ask for placement fees in cash before the applicants’ departure but do not extend help when problems arise in the countries of destination, said Banados.

She related the story of Randy, a schoolteacher who went to Saudi Arabia to work as a private driver. When his employer accused him of having an affair with a Sri Lankan maid, he ran away and sought refuge at the Philippine embassy. But the agency that recruited him did not help. He did not get his salary and returned to the Philippines after five months but could not get back the P30,000 placement fee that he paid to his agency in Manila.

Most OFWs suffer in silence and do not complain about the abusive practices of their recruitment agencies because they are afraid of losing their jobs, said Banados.

‘Money, more money’

The constant demand for money from families in the Philippines is another problem that many OFWs bear in silence.  

“Many girls (in Singapore) borrow from others to send money because they don’t want to say they don’t have money. Some have foreign boyfriends (from Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh) from whom they get money,” said Banados. 

She noted that most of her friends in Singapore always complain about their parents, siblings, cousins and uncles who pester them for money. 

One friend was so upset because, just after sending money to her family, she received another SMS from her mother asking for more money to pay the electric bills. This friend had to tell her mother that she gets her salary on a monthly, and not a weekly, basis.

One message that Banados’ book seeks to convey is that OFWs are not ATMs or Automatic Teller Machines.

Unwanted pregnancy and migration

At the Bonn conference, Banados also explained that unwanted pregnancy pushes many Filipino women to work overseas.

 “The church is teaching (people) not to use contraceptive, that it is a sin. Many girls get pregnant when they don’t want to. They also cannot abort because it is sin and (a) violation against the law. (The) husband is just a laborer (or) a tricycle driver so the income is not enough to support the family needs. The girl leaves the baby with the mother or sister and goes overseas to work.”

Banados is aware that President Benigno Aquino III wants to introduce a law that would give government assistance to people to use contraceptives. 

“The media should look at how this law could stop unwanted pregnancies and stop Filipino women from going overseas to work,” she said.

Wake up call for OFWs in Saudi Arabia

By Casiano Mayor Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer  
8:53 pm | Saturday, July 9th, 2011 

SAUDI FOREVER? Talk among overseas Filipino workers is turning to the possible effects of the Saudization program on them. Photo of Pinoys hanging out at the Balad mall in Jeddah by John Pamintuan

JEDDAH—The Saudi government’s announcement that it would hasten its program to replace expat workers with local hands is causing worries among many Filipinos and other expats working in this oil rich kingdom.

“It’s a wake up call,” said Romeo Reyes, a civil engineer in Jeddah.

Called the new “Saudization” or nationalization program, a new procedure aims to compel Saudi-owned and foreign companies to fast-track the hiring of more Saudi workers. Quotas have been set for the number of Saudi citizens employed by a company.

The quotas vary from five percent to 30 percent, depending on the company’s workforce and type of business. Companies with not more than 10 employees are exempted from the new “Nitaqat” system. Domestic  workers are also not included in the program.

(Separate issues caused the recent halt to the deployment of domestic workers in Saudi Arabia. Ongoing discussions between Manila and Riyadh on this matter concern minimum wages and other working conditions required by the Philippines’ new Migrant Workers Act, among others.)

In the Saudization program, companies are classified into four color-coded categories—blue, green, yellow and red. Firms in the yellow and red categories are in the danger zone. They are required to meet their quotas in mid-September or shortly after that, or face penalties.

Green companies are those in the process of meeting their quotas, while blue companies are those who have already met their quotas. They will be given incentives.

Details unclear
It is not clear how the new system will be carried out but it has started to cause serious concern among expats who are worried that their jobs are threatened.

“My first reaction was that of alarm. They (Saudi officials) have been discussing this Saudization program for a long time… I feel they are serious this time,” says Sidney Diaz, a graphic artist at the Halawni Brothers, a food manufacturing company that has been operating in the Kingdom for more than 60 years.

MOVING TOGETHER Sidney Diaz (right) with wife Josie, sons Justin (left) and Brian in Jeddah. Is it time to relocate the family again?

His company falls in the yellow category and therefore has to meet its required quota or face sanctions, which early newspaper reports said would include refusal to renew the residence permits or iqamas of their foreign workers. That would force Diaz and other foreign workers either to go home or work illegally in the Kingdom.

Based on the classification and schedule posted by the Saudi Ministry of Labor on its website, the company where Diaz works should have at least 30 percent Saudi workers in its more than 1,000 workforce to pull itself into the green category.

“My first reaction was, naturally, it’s like, ‘this is it, it’s back home soon’ and so we have to assess our finances and what awaits us in the Philippines, things like that. But prayers calmed me down,” said Reyes, an engineer at the Noor Trading and Contracting Company.

Diaz and Reyes express confidence that their employers would make it to the green zone before the deadline comes. But the new nationalization program known in Arabic as Nitaqat,  is seen as a wake-up call for the expatriates  to start planning their homecoming.

“It’s a wake up call. It’s time to plan for the next five years from now,” said Reyes, whose family is with him in Jeddah.

Uncertain future
Diaz, whose family is also in Jeddah, said: “It reminds us that the future is uncertain and we may lose our jobs at a time we may not expect.”

A Saudi Gazette report on July 3 said the companies in the yellow category are given nine months from the time the new program was launched (June 11) to meet their quota, while those in the red zone have up to six months to do so.

In its June 29 issue, the Gazette said “the first stage of the Zone System… will continue on an experimental basis… (and) once the (grace)  period ends, the ministry will start dealing with establishments that fall into the red and yellow category.”

It quoted a key labor official saying penalties come deadline time would be “critical for (the companies in the yellow and red zones) unless they correct their status.”

The Gazette said the  Ministry of Labor will use the “stick-and-carrot” approach to deal with the private companies. This means they will wield both incentives and sanctions.

Companies in the blue or excellent zone and those in the green or qualifying zone will be given more incentives. Those in the yellow category and red categories will be penalized.

The Saudization program was first launched in 1974 but has been moving at a snail’s pace because private firms have been reluctant to hire Saudi workers, saying many of them don’t have the competencies they seek but demand higher wages than the expatriates.

Patnubay, a Riyadh-based volunteer group helping distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), views the current nationalization program as a serious threat to the jobs of  many expatriates.

It estimates that at least 60,000 OFWs  would lose their jobs under the Nitaqat program. The computation is based on the assumption that 450,000 foreign workers would be streamlined to accommodate the same number of officially listed Saudi jobseekers and an equal number of workers from different countries would be replaced.

Patnubay said the number of Filipinos whose jobs are threatened could be more if ethnic and religious factors come into play in the retrenchment process and if many companies fail to meet their quotas.

A serious problem

GETTING READY Romeo Reyes, his wife Erly and daughter Paula Christine, another Jeddah based Pinoy family

“This is a serious problem that our government must take seriously,” said Joseph Espiritu, one of Patnubay’s active members. “Our government should start planning now instead of waiting for the problems to emerge before taking action.”

On the other hand, Rudy Dianalan, a community leader, believes highly skilled Filipino workers are not in peril of losing their jobs even if the new system is enforced strictly and hopes that only a few Filipinos will be affected by the new process.

“Only OFWs whose work can be taken over by Saudis are in danger of losing their jobs. Many OFWs are in positions that require specialized skills—like engineers, nurses, technicians, mechanics and the likes,” said Dianalan.

“There are also qualities that employers like about Filipino workers—their being hardworking, knowledgeable about the job, adequate in communication skills, and friendly, among others.”

“(Strict implementation of the Saudization program) would be a big burden for private businesses as Saudis will not accept the lower wages paid to Asian expat workers—like the OFWs, whose productivity make their operations cost-effective, said Dianalan.

“The Saudization program has been going on for so long but it has been difficult to implement. If they push through with it now, many businesses might just decide to close shop as they may not survive if forced to hire high-priced locals.

But like Diaz and Reyes, Dianalan said the situation is a reminder to OFWs to save as much as they can and prepare for a possible final exit.

Meanwhile, many OFWs who are due for vacation are reluctant to go home for fear that they might not come back following reports that immigration officers have stamped the passports of vacationing workers with “exit-only” visas.

Saudi domestics ban is a blessing

By Susan K
Philippine Daily Inquirer  
8:49 pm | Saturday, July 9th, 2011

 The Saudi government’s decision to halt the deployment of Filipino domestic workers is a blessing.

“No to Saudi” especially for women, has been the stand of Bantay OCW for the past 14 years. We have  repeatedly appealed to the government to make it a state policy, not to allow women to work as domestic helpers in Arab countries, where they are most vulnerable.

Some of the women leave the country as passengers but sad to say, some return home in a box as cargo.

There are many reports of Filipino domestics  abused, maltreated, sexually harassed, starved to death, raped and even killed.  Some as treated as prisoners and slaves, as if they were personal property of their employers; some are not allowed to return home even though they have finished their contracts. Some never received a single Saudi riyal for their long years of service. Lucky ones are  able to run away from their inhuman employers.

Some of our male OFWs have not been spared from abuse. We have received complaints of men also being raped and molested by Arabs.

When some complainants at Radyo Inquirer heard about the ban, they nodded their approval. An OFW’s husband even pleaded to have the ban made retroactive. His wife has been in Saudi for six months now and is reportedly being maltreated by her employer, he claimed.

What are the issues involved? The Philippines has rejected an appeal from Saudi Arabia to make the minimum wage for Filipino maids $200 instead of the proposed $400. Saudi officials, on the other hand, have rejected the Philippine government’s requirements for employers wishing to hire a Filipino domestic, such as insisting on getting their personal data and information on their income.

Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said these measures hope to protect the welfare of overseas workers particularly in Arab countries, where many domestics are treated like contract slaves.

However, recruitment agencies say otherwise. They claim it’s impossible for foreign employers to pay $400. According to them, that is not what the market dictates, it’s only on paper that household service workers receive $400 as processed by the POEA. In reality, they only receive $150 to $200. Contract substitution is common.

Our OFWs truly deserve a better place where they can be treated as humans, not as  animals.

This Saudi ban is another wake up call. Let’s look at the positive effect rather than the negative: Our women will no longer entertain the thought of applying for slavery jobs in Arab countries since there will be no jobs available for them. Mothers will look for better livelihood alternatives by attending trainings and seminars for additional skills, and hopefully, choose to stay home, and still serve as “the guiding lights” of their families.

Thanks to Saudi government for imposing the ban.

Susan Andes, a.k.a Susan K, is on board at Radyo Inquirer (990 DZIQ AM) from Monday to Friday, 7-8:30 p.m. (Audio/video live streaming: www.dziq.am) and NBN Channel 4 (Monday to Friday) 10:10 p.m. – 11:10 p.m. Bantay OCW Foundation  Hotlines: 5357209 and 8819423 or cell phone 0919-2140699. E-mail: susankbantayocw@yahoo.com / bantayocwfoundation@yahoo.com

Visa, UnionBank tie up for money transfer business

Philippine Daily Inquirer  
1:09 am | Friday, June 10th, 2011 

Global credit card company Visa Inc. has entered the local remittance market with the launch of a new service that allows Filipinos in the Middle East to send money directly to their loved ones’ credit cards in the country.

In a briefing earlier this week, the company announced its new partnership with UnionBank of the Philippines for a new service that lets users receive cash from abroad to their Visa debit cards—the first of its kind in Asia.

The service, which uses Visa’s Personal Payment technology, was developed in partnership with United Arab Emirates (UAE) Exchange, a leading provider of remittance services in the Middle East.

“(This) will be the first remitter to offer the service to the Philippines, with other key markets for Filipinos working overseas added in the coming months,” it said in a statement.
It said the new service would give “millions of cardholders a faster and more convenient way to receive everyday remittances.”

Dubbed as Visa Personal Payments, the new service would allow Filipinos with local Visa debit cards, issued by UnionBank, to receive funds in near real time, putting money from thousands of miles away in recipients’ hands in a matter of minutes. The cash is sent by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) through UAE Exchange branches abroad.

The cash can then be withdrawn at the nearest automated teller machines (ATM) or used to pay for services such as bill settlements or even grocery purchases.

“Adding a remittance feature to Visa cards makes a lot of sense as the Philippines is one of the most sophisticated remittance markets,” Visa Philippines country manager Iain Jamieson said.

About eight million Filipinos currently work abroad, remitting a total of $18.8 billion to their families in the Philippines every year based on 2010 figures from the central bank.

“Visa cards offer the best way to make purchases and withdraw cash, and they are now the best way to receive overseas remittances as well,” he said.—Paolo G. Montecillo