What’s in stimulus package for overseas workers, OWWA asked

MANILA, Philippines — A Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines official asked the government to explain how overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) will benefit from its P330-billion economic stimulus package.

CBCP Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care for Migrants and Itinerant People executive secretary Fr. Edwin Corros voiced the concern as OFWs partly fund the P330-billion package.

“We want our migrants to watch and see if the fund is really being used for them," he said in an article on the CBCP website (www.cbcpnews.com).

He raised questions about President Arroyo’s stimulus package for OFWs, saying part of the fund comes from members’ contribution to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).

Corros lamented that the government is even promoting migration in the face of a global financial crisis, instead of creating jobs at home.

He cited Administrative Order 247, which mandated the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration ’s paradigm shift from regulations to full-blast marketing development efforts, exploration of frontier placements.

Such placements may be subjected to long debates by stakeholders, he lamented.

Corros said the government should not depend on labor export to support the economy. “This is not the right way to develop our country economically," he said.

Also, Corros said the economic crisis last year significantly reduced the demand for consumable products like computers, garments and other related export products slowed down that forced even developed countries into recession.

He noted most Filipino workers earned their keep while working in these countries for so many years. - GMANews.TV

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