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Church and govt pair up to protect Filipino migrants

About 13 million Filipino migrant workers in various countries send vital remittances to boost the country's economy
Migrant workers, many of them from the Philippines and employed as domestic maids, are seen amongst pedestrians at a public access walkway as they gather on their weekly Sunday off in Hong Kong's Central district on Sept. 24

Migrant workers, many of them from the Philippines and employed as domestic maids, are seen amongst pedestrians at a public access walkway as they gather on their weekly Sunday off in Hong Kong's Central district on Sept. 24, 2017. (Photo: AFP)

Published: September 23, 2022 10:29 AM GMT
Updated: September 23, 2022 10:29 AM GMT

Catholic bishops in the Philippines have launched an initiative to ensure welfare and protection of Filipino migrant workers in collaboration with government agencies.

A senior official from the Catholic Bishops’ Commission for the Pastoral Care for Migrants and Itinerant People said on Sept. 23 that the programs in partnership with the Commission on Filipinos Overseas, the Department of Justice, and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration have been officially launched.

The programs seek to streamline the processing of documentation and address complaints of abuses suffered by Filipino migrants abroad.

Other government agencies involved in the programs are the Department of Migrant Workers, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), and the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Father Roger Manalo, the executive secretary of the bishops’ commission, said the programs resulted from dialogue with government agencies since Sept. 20 ahead of the National Migrant’s Sunday and National Seafarer’s Day on Sept. 25.

“The consultative dialogue was called for to be able to know the program and services of these agencies as well as the policy direction that they are doing at present. Likewise, this would lead to possible collaborative undertaking between the church and the government for the welfare of migrants and refugees,” Father Manalo told Tagalog language Catholic radio station, Radyo Veritas.

On Migrant’s Sunday, Catholics are called to reflect on the plight of millions of overseas contract workers, migrants, and their families.

Filipino churchgoers are urged to pray for all the people on the move, especially Filipinos in the “diaspora” that they will be instruments of the Gospel through “humble and selfless [service] of God and people,” Father Manalo added.

Through the partnership, migrants who file their complaints will get free legal assistance from the Department of Justice. The Commission on Overseas will provide temporary shelter and accommodation to those who were physically abused by the employers.

“The first thing that came to mind when my master beat me was to go to my parish priest. With this project with the government, abused migrants know where to go and we are assured that our parish is collaborating with our government wherever we are,” an abuse survivor migrant worker told UCA News on condition of anonymity.

The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, on the other hand, shall continue to provide college scholarship grants to financially constrained yet deserving children of Filipino migrants.

“Every year, we give around 1,000 scholarship grants to deserving children of our migrant workers. The top 400 are given to freshmen while 600 slots are given to those already enrolled in college. We give them 60,000 pesos (US$1,500) per year,” OWWA officer Mildred Baccay told UCA News.

Baccay said with their partnership with the Catholic Church, they might increase their scholarship slots by 200 more.

“We always have a problem with funding. But hopefully, through this partnership, we will have more donors so that we can open up more slots to other deserving students. Many are qualified but we need to set a cap because our funding is limited,” Baccay added.

Bishop Narciso Abellana, a member of the CBCP migrants' commission has appealed to Catholics to support the prelates’ collaboration with the government.

“God’s inclusive love makes all of us – migrants or not, co-builders and co-citizens,” Bishop Abellana told Radyo Veritas.

The prelate also said migrants were not competitors but contributors to a nation’s development.

“They are not to be regarded as competitors and displacers, but as contributors to the growth of their adoptive countries because of the work they do. This inclusivity may push us to a world without limits — no more theirs and ours, them and us; no more strangers, but only brothers and sisters under one shepherd,” the prelate said.

In 2021, the Philippines had about 13 million overseas workers, according to the Department of Labor. In 2020, the country sent about 560,000 workers abroad.

The remittance from overseas migrant workers plays a vital role in the economy of the nation. However, rights groups have documented a rising number of abuse cases including the killing of Filipino migrants.

According to official records, there were about 5,000 cases of maltreatment of overseas Filipino workers in 2020. Department of Labor reported that the majority or some 4,302 cases occurred in Middle Eastern countries.  

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