To avoid a repeat of the many deaths of Pinoy OFWs, DOLE should totally ban the placement of Pinay DHs to Arab and Muslim countries in the Mideast.
Why?
Because it appears that Arab and Muslim culture assumes that foreign domestic helpers they hire become their slaves. This has been proven by the string of horrendous physical abuses suffered by Filipino women who work as “kasambahay” in various ME countries.
The kilometric tales of woe told by many returning DHs make my blood boil because our women are arguably the most efficient OFWs, especially in the field of homemaking and child and maternal care.
Unfortunately, the harrowing case of Joanna Demafelis of Iloilo, who died due to physical abuse and torture and whose corpse was stored in a freezer to avoid detection, is the best testimony that our “kababayans” are not safe. They are literally treated very lowly like animals and slaves of yore.
Many more past abuses in the hands of Arab and Muslim employers have been previously recorded and narrated. But none paralleled what Demafelis underwent.
I say that DOLE should henceforth selectively deploy only semi-skilled, skilled and professional OFWs who significantly have helped raise the standards and quality of our labor force.
Filipino women who want to augment the family income are better off staying at home, take care of their children and just let their husbands shoulder the burden of finding work abroad if he so desires.
There is less of a family problem this way, don’t you think so?
After all, what use is the money earned in a foreign country if like Demafelis, your beloved DH relative returns home in a coffin?
Pres. Duterte has expressed his fatherly concern about countless OFWs who cry for help when they are subjected to inhuman treatment by their Mid-East employers.
Besides, Filipinos are wont into biting – hook, line and sinker – the common reasoning that there are no jobs that can be found locally. This is not correct.
If a family can sacrifice sending abroad its father or mother or sister or brother because of higher than the minimum wage offered despite unwarranted threats, dangers and risks, why should not the family instead focus on pooling their efforts together so that there is no need to worry about the physical situation of an absent relative who goes abroad for “greener” pastures?
I know of a single mom from Pangasinan who gave up her low salaried teaching job in exchange for a higher income overseas.
After ten years, she realized that the bigger income she was earning failed to compensate her long physical absence from her family.
Returning to her hometown, she eagerly went into business and engaged in retail ‘bangus’ (milkfish) business which eventually flourished. She is now an established businesswoman and was awarded “Entrepreneur of the Year” several years ago.
Filipinos should not be sucked into the overwhelming prospects of getting rich while working abroad. There is no guarantee that like the other OFW who made it before him, the same fortune will befall on the next guy.
Sadly, the mournful cries of Joanna’s parents, relatives and friends will not bring her back to life.
As we write this piece, hundreds more OFWs are availing of the amnesty offered by ME countries and are now being repatriated safely to the waiting arms of their welcoming families.
There is no place like home. (Email your feedback to fredlumba@yahoo.com.) Prov.28:2. “When a country is rebellious, it has many rulers, but a man of understanding and knowledge maintains order.” GOD BLESS THE PHILIPPINES!
