‘Build, Build, Build’ will not solve OFW job issues —solon
Gabriela party-list Representative Emmi De Jesus on Wednesday slammed Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III for saying that the Duterte administration's "Build, Build, Build" (BBB) program could provide jobs for repatriated OFWs.
Bello was invited as resource speaker for the House Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs hearing to give updates on the bilateral labor agreements between the Philippines and countries of destination of OFWs.
During the hearing, ABS party-list Representative Eugene Michael De Vera asked Bello if he could say if it is the policy of the Duterte administration to export labor to other countries, given the current number of OFWs.
"The impression here is that there is a lack of available work in the Philippines," De Vera said.
Bello said Duterte's final objective is to actually recall or repatriate all OFWs.
"We know the social implication of parents leaving their families just to look for jobs abroad. But then, the reality is we do not have the jobs available here," he said.
Because of this, Bello said Duterte embarked on the "Build, Build, Build" program which, according to him, would generate about two million jobs a year.
"By the end of the term of our president, we will be having 10 million jobs for our Filipino workers. And this may now bring about the dream of our president to repatriate all our countrymen," he said.
De Jesus, however, took exception of Bello's statement, noting that the program is a far-fetched answer to the problems of the OFWs.
"Malayo ang hugot nito. Hindi solusyon ang BBB program ng administrasyong Duterte sa problema ng ating mga repatriated OFWs," she said.
"We find this response by the Duterte regime unacceptable. This is an attempt to glorify the BBB program's supposed job generating capacity when the reality is that it will only create temporary jobs even if there are many construction projects lined up. In two to five years, wala na ang mga trabahong ito," she added.
De Jesus said that BBB jobs are project-based and low-paying.
"Ang kailangan ng mga kababayan natin ay disente at istableng trabaho sa loob ng bansa na magtitiyak ng nakabubuhay na sahod," she said.
"What we need is a strategic blueprint for local decent jobs through national industrialization and genuine land reform."
During the hearing, Bello also said he would go to Kuwait soon to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) which is likewise a bilateral labor agreement between the Middle Eastern state and the Philippines.
One of the provisions that the Philippines wants to be included on the MOU, he said, is the prohibition on the confiscation of passports of Filipino household workers.
The MOU would also seek to prohibit disallowing household workers to use cellphones and laptop in contacting their loved ones in the Philippines, as well as giving them a one-day day off and sufficient salary. —KBK, GMA News
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