Legarda wants govt advisories vs. countries where Pinoy maids are abused



KIMBERLY JANE TAN, GMA NEWS 
Senator Loren Legarda on Thursday urged the Aquino administration to issue advisories against countries where large numbers of Filipino domestic workers are abused.
 
During a weekly forum at the Senate on Thursday, Legarda said she will ask the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to identify which countries are dangerous for domestic workers.
 
"Kung [sa] tourism ay may travel advisory...siguro magandang i-explore yung posibilidad na magkaroon ng advisory din sa mga lugar na laganap masyado ang pang-aabuso," said the senator, who chairs of the Senate foreign relations committee.
 
She explained that the DFA and DOLE must specifically check whether the large number of abuse cases is due to culture or the recruitment process.
 
"Importante kasi aware sila [mga worker] sa kanilang pinapasukan dahil hindi natin maalis sa kanila ang pagnanasa nilang mag-abroad," she said.
 
"At least meron silang kaalaman, they can equip themselves emotionally [and] physically at ang gobyerno ay maaari silang tulungan at mas dapat matalas ang mata at ang pandinig ng mga opisyal ng embahada natin sa mga lugar na yun," she added.
 
Cecilia Flores-Obenda, executive director of the Visayan Forum Foundation, said during the same forum that they have been studying which countries have the highest incidents of domestic worker abuse worldwide.
 
Among the areas they have identified so far are Jordan, Peru, Lebanon, Singapore, Togo, and other parts of Africa, she said.
 
To help address this, Legarda said she along with other partner groups plan to encourage these countries to follow the Philippines' lead in ratifying the International Labor Organization Convention 189 and passing their own Kasambahay Bill, which both ensure the rights of domestic workers.
 
"We will urge other countries who send domestic workers and many countries who receive our domestic workers to do their own domestic legislation para may cooperation globally and worldwide that is our next step," she said.
 
"Filipinos will always be victimized unless there is cooperation from the receiving states so it's going to be a global campaign," she added. - VVP, GMA News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more