Ex-solon says creation of Dept. of Migrant Workers could curb kafala system

By ANNA FELICIA BAJO, GMA News Published January 3, 2022 1:28pm A former lawmaker on Monday said the creation of the Department of Migrant Workers might address the problem of the kafala system. The kafala system is a scheme allowing employers in Middle Eastern countries to control the employment and migration status of foreign workers they employ. According to Aniceto "John" Bertiz III, an advocate of overseas Filipino workers, the department could further study how the kafala system could be prevented. He added that the creation of the Department of Migrant Workers would prevent cases of abuses among Filipinos working abroad. "Isang kasagutan na rin po ito sa matagal na rin po nating nilalaban, 'yung kafala system sa Middle East kasi pagkakaroon po ng isang departamento, it will actually coordinate or restudy 'yung paano maiwasan po 'yung kafala system, which is the direct sponsorship," Bertiz said at a Laging Handa briefing. (This is also an answer to our efforts to curb the kafala system in the Middle East. The department will coordinate or restudy how to prevent the said system.) "Puwede naman po 'to dahil may mga in place na po na batas at polisiya doon sa Middle East country... para maiwasan na rin po natin 'yung ating mga tinatawag na naaabuso lalong-lalo na po sa vulnerable sectors," he added. (There are already laws and policies being implemented in the countries in the Middle East to prevent abuses against the vulnerable sectors.) On December 30, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act 11641 or the law establishing the Department of Migrant Workers. This will be the primary agency that is mandated to protect the rights and promote the welfare of OFWs and other overseas Filipinos. The Duterte administration has been calling for the abolition of the kafala system, with the President saying that the scheme is a "behemoth that chains the weak, the desperate, and the voiceless to an existence of unimaginable suffering." "While reforms have been made, the kafala system must be dismantled – sooner rather than later – in the name of justice and basic decency," Duterte had said. — RSJ, GMA News

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