Group taps church help vs 'labor export' policy

MANILA, Philippines - Migrant workers' group Migrante International is seeking the help of the Catholic Church to stop what it calls the "commodification" of human labor by the Arroyo administration.

Connie Regalado, the group's chairperson, said Migrante would ask members of the Catholic Church to see for themselves how the government is promoting a "dehumanizing" policy on labor export.

"Families are breaking up, abuses and inhumane treatment to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are grave and the present (administration) hasn't lifted even a single finger to alleviate the migrants' plight," she said in a statement posted on the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines Web site Tuesday afternoon.

Last week, three workers from the United Arab Emirates faced the media to narrate how they were allegedly abused by their employer, and neglected by the Philippine consulate.

Renato Garcia, Justino van Estulle and Ace Ferrer were among the ten Filipinos who were recruited by the Princess House Party Organizer and were incarcerated in the UAE for four months.

Estulle said Migrante helped them to get repatriated.

Regalado likewise scored the government for inviting representatives from more than 100 nations for the Second Global Forum for Migration and Development to be held in Manila in October.

"The...government is inviting 100 plus nations for the... forum... to further sell her people as commodities so that she can have billions of dollars to make our ailing economy to stay afloat," Regalado said.

During the forum, more than 300 economic and political leaders are expected to tackle issues on migration and how can it be made to contribute more to a nation's economic and social development.

"We see this as another scheme of capitalist governments like the member states of the European Union, leading North American nations like the US and Canada, to make their industries running by importing cheap labor from countries like ours," said Regalado.

The cheaper the cost of labor is, the more is the profit," she said. - GMANews.TV

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