The Philippine Online Chronicles

The Philippine Government has long hailed our overseas Filipino workers for their immense contribution to the country. In fact, without them, our country would have been severely affected by the global economic crisis that crippled the US government and many other European and Asian markets in 2008. Last year. The remittances sent by the OFWs contributed to the unprecedented 7.3% economic growth experienced by the country.

In May of this year, it was noted that OFW remittances showed their highest increase since January, reaching a 6.9% increase. This translates to over $1.68 billion.

So with much owed to the OFWs, why is it that the Philippine Government has found another way to make it more difficult for them to leave the country rather than to find ways to expedite their departure process?

Since March 2011, the POEA office has issued an advisory stating that all departing contract workers need to go to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) office to get a departing clearance validation. This additional stamp on the paperwork costs P100 to process. The intention is that the POEA is to screen any illegally recruited employees and in the process, may be able to curtail the deployment of illegally recruited employees.

This is a bunch of hogwash. Where are the statistics and data to show that the additional clearance has actually been effective? Out of the thousands of contract workers that have attempted to leave the country since March 2011 and have gotten this POEA verification clearance, how many illegally recruited workers were prevented from actually leaving the country?

Also, shouldn’t the validation checking of the contracts and employers be part of the service provided by the POEA, instead of an additional service fee? Why start breaking down services this way? The answer is because you can collect more money. Since the government has made OFWs tax free, perhaps it had to think of ways to offset the loss of tax collected by instead coming up with additional fees for contract workers.

However, the POEA justifies the additional process because it is allegedly for the protection of the workers. According to POEA Administrator Carlos Cao, Jr, “With the validation system in place, POEA is able to check on workers who are carrying tampered or fake travel documents secured through illegal means”.

This seems more like another ingenious way of further milking already harassed and aggravated OFW workers who are already worked to the bone and sometimes even beaten and raped abroad. Also, it’s just an additional burden on the already bureaucratic process, thereby the delaying the release and departure of the employees rather than expediting it.

If the OFWs are supposed to be the new heroes of the country, why is it then that they are being harassed more when it comes to the processing of their paperwork? Aalis na nga lang, pinahirapan pa hanggang sa kahuli-hulihan.

The POEA advises that the validation stamp be obtained a few days before the departure day since it is unlikely that the entire thing can be processed in one day. Given the immensely long lines at the POEA office and how notoriously inefficient the staff workers are, this is just another burden for the workers to carry.

Imagine an OFW worker who has just come home for a quick holiday break and is eager to see his family and friends after being out of the country for several months or even years. Do you seriously think he would want to deal with government bureaucracy at this point? He’ll have to wait in a long line, sometimes even be told to return the next day, only to be slowly processed by government employees who don’t know the first thing about good customer service or even pride in a job well done. Rather than enjoying his vacation time with loved ones, perhaps even flying home to the province, he has to allot at least a day to take care of his documentation.

What makes this clearance stamp even more inane is that it is only valid on the day of departure. What happens if at the last minute, the person wants to stay an extra day for an emergency? Or, what if his flight is delayed due to adverse weather conditions or because of a travel advisory against the country he is heading out to? Well, then he has to endure the entire process all over again!

If the POEA is hell bent of requiring this clearance, then it should at least be valid for a certain number of days past the expected departure date to account for flight delays and other unexpected emergencies. Given the highly bureaucratic process that he has to endure, by the time the OFW pays his fees and leaves the country, he’s probably thinking “good riddance!”

Also, there’s a strong possibility that this is unconstitutional, according to Ambassador Roberto Tiglao, as it is a constitutional right to travel (Art. 3, Section 6).

On top of the P100 exit clearance fee (the amount of which is uncertain how it is disbursed or used by the POEA), the employee also needs to pay an OWWA membership of $25 per contract, plus P900 for one year of Phil Health coverage (never mind that he will be out of the country). Finally, he is also made to pay a minimum fee of P100 for the Pag-Ibig Fund.

Every day, the 3,500 employees leave the country. That means that in a given day, that’s an easy P350,000 cash collected from the exit clearance alone. One has to wonder how these fees are used. It doesn’t seem to be for the service and benefit of the OFWs. Think back to a few months ago during the crisis in the Middle East when the Philippine government didn’t seem to have the means to bring back the workers in danger. They certainly don’t seem to be getting the respectful and efficient service that they should be getting.

The administration should seriously look into this matter and reconsider it. Isn’t there a more efficient way to go about this? Perhaps with all the money collected by the POEA from the Overseas Employment Certificate, they should be able to put up more satellite offices so that more people can be accommodated? Perhaps they can copy the model of the LTO, which put up satellite offices in malls, to the great convenience of motorists. Rather than making things more complicated, why not find ways to streamline the process and cut back on the red tape? Why not make forms and processing doable online? Why not train the employees at the POEA to be more efficient, friendly and have proper work ethic so that late starts and long lunch breaks are curtailed?

Rather than coming up with more documentation and more fees, shouldn’t the government try to find ways to make things easier for Filipino workers headed abroad? Shouldn’t resources at embassies abroad be available for workers to call for free or shouldn’t there be help desk numbers to call in case they have problems with their employers? For employees who do happen to be illegally recruited, embassies abroad should be accessible to them and it should be equipped with the means of providing support for these workers.

Overseas contract workers need to have a stronger voice in how they are treated. No one wants to speak up because all they want to do is get out of the country as quickly as possible so they can get back to work.

Finally, one of the greatest ironies with this OEC is that it is not even stringently checked by immigration officers at the airport!!!

The Aquino administration should rethink this matter carefully. The last thing they want is to alienate and upset our modern day “HEROES” – the very people who are currently pumping the economy with much needed dollar remittances. Show some gratitude and help our countrymen! Platitudes and parades aren’t going to do it.

Photo from POC Politiko.Some Rights Reserved.