'Job referrals for displaced OFWs not enough'
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An organization of migrant groups on Thursday criticized the government’s response to help 36 retrenched overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in South Korea through mere job referrals.
Migrante International described as “the height of callousness” the job referral letters offer of the Philippine embassy in South Korea, as the only form of assistance it can extend to workers laid off in the said country.
"This is the height of callousness! The 36 retrenched OFWs were illegally dismissed from their jobs without any compensation. They don't have any place to stay nor the money to pay for their own repatriation. And yet the only thing our embassy can offer them are useless job referrals," Gina Gaborni, deputy secretary general of Migrante International said in a press statement.
Gaborni said the 36 OFWs worked for the Display Technology Company Ltd. In Anseong Si, Gyeonggi-do in Korea.
Gaborni said the OFWs were retrenched last January 21. This forced the Filipino migrant workers to seek temporary shelter with fellow Filipinos in the community.
The group’s chairperson, Garry Martinez had met with the 36 retrenched workers. Martinez is in Korea to attend the general assembly of their member organization.
Migrante reported that among the 36 OFWs were Dacal Sanchez Mira from Cagayan Valley, Macario Gomez from Ilocos Norte, Genelyn Karganilla from La Union, and Eulalia Ogorida who hails from Pasig City.
"We are saddened by the fact that the Arroyo Administration is too preoccupied with its aggressive marketing of OFWs across the globe while being unmindful of the continuing violations being committed against the rights and welfare of OFWs being hardly hit by the present global financial crisis. This is unacceptable!" Gaborni said.
The group said the recent retrenchments of foreign workers in different countries are allegedly being done arbitrarily without giving any proper notice or any warning to OFWs. Due compensation are also allegedly being denied to OFWs and airfares for their repatriation are shouldered by the workers.
"If this would become the portend of things to come, then we are afraid that the new job openings being boasted by President Arroyo in different countries abroad would only place more OFWs in a situation where their rights are totally being disregarded. We call on the Arroyo Administration to stop its exploitative labor exportation and focus more on protecting OFWs in this time of crisis," Gaborni said.
Recently, the group also reported that more than 800 OFWs were retrenched in Taiwan for this month alone. Migrante cited the 161 retrenched OFWs from Walton Advanced Engineering Inc; 162 retrenched OFWs from Inotera; 127 from Tripod; 62 from Ichia Technology; 42 from Chipmos; 32 from Sintek plus 400 more from different Taiwan companies.
An organization of migrant groups on Thursday criticized the government’s response to help 36 retrenched overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in South Korea through mere job referrals.
Migrante International described as “the height of callousness” the job referral letters offer of the Philippine embassy in South Korea, as the only form of assistance it can extend to workers laid off in the said country.
"This is the height of callousness! The 36 retrenched OFWs were illegally dismissed from their jobs without any compensation. They don't have any place to stay nor the money to pay for their own repatriation. And yet the only thing our embassy can offer them are useless job referrals," Gina Gaborni, deputy secretary general of Migrante International said in a press statement.
Gaborni said the 36 OFWs worked for the Display Technology Company Ltd. In Anseong Si, Gyeonggi-do in Korea.
Gaborni said the OFWs were retrenched last January 21. This forced the Filipino migrant workers to seek temporary shelter with fellow Filipinos in the community.
The group’s chairperson, Garry Martinez had met with the 36 retrenched workers. Martinez is in Korea to attend the general assembly of their member organization.
Migrante reported that among the 36 OFWs were Dacal Sanchez Mira from Cagayan Valley, Macario Gomez from Ilocos Norte, Genelyn Karganilla from La Union, and Eulalia Ogorida who hails from Pasig City.
"We are saddened by the fact that the Arroyo Administration is too preoccupied with its aggressive marketing of OFWs across the globe while being unmindful of the continuing violations being committed against the rights and welfare of OFWs being hardly hit by the present global financial crisis. This is unacceptable!" Gaborni said.
The group said the recent retrenchments of foreign workers in different countries are allegedly being done arbitrarily without giving any proper notice or any warning to OFWs. Due compensation are also allegedly being denied to OFWs and airfares for their repatriation are shouldered by the workers.
"If this would become the portend of things to come, then we are afraid that the new job openings being boasted by President Arroyo in different countries abroad would only place more OFWs in a situation where their rights are totally being disregarded. We call on the Arroyo Administration to stop its exploitative labor exportation and focus more on protecting OFWs in this time of crisis," Gaborni said.
Recently, the group also reported that more than 800 OFWs were retrenched in Taiwan for this month alone. Migrante cited the 161 retrenched OFWs from Walton Advanced Engineering Inc; 162 retrenched OFWs from Inotera; 127 from Tripod; 62 from Ichia Technology; 42 from Chipmos; 32 from Sintek plus 400 more from different Taiwan companies.
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