“Every action has its pleasures and its price.” – STEPHEN KING.
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What now?
Another 700 Pinoy families will be without a sustainable monthly income after the Kuwaiti government sent this number of men and women home recently.
According to the local Arabic language daily Al Rai the 700 OFWs were put on flights at their own expense which were shouldered by the Philippine Embassy that offered them shelter.
The action was reportedly the initiative of the Kuwait government to avoid Kuwaiti sponsors needing to pay or subsidize air tickets.
The deportation stemmed from cases of absconding, the report said, citing unnamed security sources.
The dictionary defines absconding as “leaving a jurisdiction secretly or suddenly, for instance, to avoid service of process, arrest or prosecution; or leaving with another person’s money or property.”
Absconding, anywhere else, is a criminal offense which may lead to imprisonment and a jail term.
This is quite embarrassing if I may say so.
Although I can’t blame OFWs who abscond or escape from their Kuwaiti employers because they are often maltreated and physically abused.
OFWs do not betray the work contract which they signed for and they serve out these contracts up to the very date printed on the dotted line.
OFWs are faithful to their employers and this is one very good reason why they are desireable by foreign employers seeking househelp. HongKong is one good example.
That is why I keep suggesting – this time the DMW should perhaps pick this up – that only skilled workers – technical and supervisory – should be deployed to Kuwait.
Haven’t you noticed that Kuwaiti employers treat our OFWs especially the unskilled (domestics and manual) like they own them as slaves and serfs?
It is about time the government should wake up to the realization that other foreign employers think OFWs are for sale, aprticularly in Arab countries.
Already, three have been recorded to have been murdered brutally like animals being slaughtered for a feast offering.
I believe that the DMW should review all the OFW deployment everywhere else in the world.
Look, months before the on-going bloody cilvil war in Sudan, the DMW must have received information that a brewing violent confrontation in that country would erupt anytime.
If the DMW had prior intelligence info, it should have stopped delpoying OFWs to that country and made preparatiosn for frepatriation in case something explosive explodes.
That African country has had a long history of tribal wars and conflicts because the nation and the tribes are deeply divided.
They simply cannot see eye to eye. Corruption is a major issue.
Until one of the two battling war lords overcomes the other and succeeds in establishing a new government that respects human rights and installs a democracy, Sudan will never cease to become a powder keg.
That is why our government should always take the proactive stance that it is always five steps ahead of any unlikely development before anything untoward occurs.
Repatriation of OFWs trapped in this situation is always a big problem because it costs a lot of money (dollars), time and preparation.
Not to mention the risks to human life.
Kuwait is becoming a huge headache in relation to our OFW deployment.
While the Kuwaiti dollar is much more in value than the greenback, this should not mean the government should shut its eyes against violations committed against out OFWs.
In fact, OFW families can survive without the Kuwait deployment and can find work elsewhere.
Pinoys thought the country would go to ruins when the Cory government booted out the two American bases in the Philippines in 1991.
Look, how many decades ago was that and our country has survived upheavals – domestic and global.
The DMW is actually in good hands.
Sec. Toots Ople (daughter of the late senator and DOLE Secretary Blas Ople) is very capable and knowledgeable. She knows what her tasks call for but she is, sadly, being overtaken by events beyond her control (Email feedback to fredlumba@yahoo.com). GOD BLESS THE PHILIPPINES!.
