EDITORIAL November 3

Undocumented Workers
Bleeds DFA Dry

by NEIL ALLENDE

A Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) executive bared that Filipino workers going abroad through informal channels and encounters problems are causing financial ills for government.
Cresente Relacion, executive director of the Office of Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs, a Department of Foreign Affairs adjunct, said his unit has been experiencing budget deficits for the past three years because of increased repatriation.
Relacion said these workers are mostly undocumented who acquired jobs abroad without passing through government agencies processing overseas deployment. The DFA is experiencing a deficit because the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration only takes care of documented workers, Relacion added.
The embassies and the consular offices of the Philippines abroad, however, have to be open for every Filipino in need of assistance abroad, documented or not, he explained.
Due to this openness, the DFA dips into its Assistance to Nationals (ATN) budget as well as in its Legal Assistance Fund (LAF).
DFA has requested Congress to approve the increase of its ATN budget to P100 million from P51 million and P30 million from P15 million for its LAF.
The ATN is used to address the needs of overseas Filipinos in distress. It covers repatriation; medical expenses; migration fees for overstaying Filipinos; and, basic necessities of those caught in emergencies or are detained.
Likewise, the DFA uses this fund to provide consular services such as dispatches, attendance in court hearings, payment of translation fees, and financial assistance to Filipinos facing legal cases abroad.
The LAF also is used to cover legal expenses of overseas Filipino workers in litigation. These expenses include court fees and lawyers’ fees. The payment of blood money, to note, is not covered by the fund.
Most of the money goes to assisting undocumented Filipino workers abroad since most of those who get into trouble –85 to 95 percent of them– didn’t pass through formal channels. Most of these Filipinos are in the Middle East, China, and Malaysia.
“The DFA is only the receiving point of the problems. Many OFWs continue to use tourist visas or go to unscrupulous agencies,” Relacion pointed out.
In view of the general right to travel, international migration has had problems “recognizing Filipinos posing as tourists,” he added.

Adventurism

According to RELACION, over the past three years, the DFA has witnessed an increase in the number of repatriation cases involving Filipinos. The increase is linked to the proportional upward spike in cases of abductions and wars as well as the provision of amnesty to undocumented workers in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and Kuwait. The increase was felt after 2004 when the ATN still posted a P5-million surplus from an P8-million surplus in 2003.
However, by 2005, it overshot by P17 million when the ATN budget was P69 million. Supplemental budgets for 2006 and 2007 were requested from the national government. However, the funds might fail to meet the several cases the DFA is handling currently.
While the DFA is now handling 28 death penalty cases: nine in Saudi Arabia, 10 in Malaysia, four in Kuwait, three in China, one in Brunei, and one in the United Sates. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia alone, lawyers charge up to US$100,000 (P4.406 million at US$1=P44.06) for death row cases. Non-capital offenses allow lawyers to charge up to US$3,500 (P154,210) in fees, Relacion revealed.
The embassies and consulates, especially in the Middle East countries, have to hire legal assistance at the earliest stage of the case.
“We have to assess (cases) as early as possible if we have to get a lawyer [for the] lower court or [for the] upper court,” Relacion explained.
Lower court hearings are usually more expensive, he claims.
Most Filipinos in the Middle East are in death row for murder, while those in China and Malaysia are involved in drug cases. Filipinos, he said, are also getting involved in trafficking in Kuala Lumpur.
Data from Relacion’s office reveal the number of Filipinos repatriated home have been increasing since 2003.
For the period January to August 2007 alone, some 18,753 Filipinos were flown home compared to the whole year 2006 of 17,889. Only 3,775 two years ago, 6,890 in 2004, and 6,114 in 2005.
This means some 74 Filipinos were being repatriated every day this year compared to 50 a day last year. The nine-month figure has even exceeded by eight the number of Filipinos repatriated if last year’s figure were compared to the period. This figure could go higher because of the difficulty to keep track of undocumented Filipino workers. “A Filipino should not go into adventurism. They should respect the laws of the country,” he said. /MP