Philippine workers need jobs, not another migrant agency, critics say

A new Philippine government agency tasked to handle issues related to overseas Filipino workers is likely to bring more bureaucracy and confusion, migrant workers and specialists say, while others fear it may further increase the country's reliance on exporting labour instead of creating jobs domestically.

There were an estimated 2.2 million Filipinos abroad, according to figures released by the Philippine Statistics Authority in 2020. Overseas workers have been essential for the country's economy, contributing over US$31.59 billion last year alone.

A bill establishing the Department of Migrant Workers was signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte in December. The new agency - expected to start operating next year - is meant to handle all issues related to overseas workers, which are currently under different government departments.

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The move is a fulfilment of Duterte's presidential campaign in 2016, when he pledged to consolidate all relevant agencies into one, streamlining government services and assistance for migrant workers.

"[Overseas Filipinos] suffered not only yesterday but they are still suffering now with so many inadequacies, in both our government response including the monetary assistance," Duterte said in his final State of the Nation Address in July. The aim is "to ensure that there is a department that is solely focused on addressing the needs and taking care of the welfare of our countrymen abroad", he said.

But many workers and specialists are receiving the news with apprehension.

Dolores Balladares-Pelaez, chairwoman of the rights groups United Filipinos In Hong Kong, is convinced the new agency will bring no positive changes.

"We don't think the new department will help and, in fact, we think it's not necessary, because there are already several departments handling matters relevant to overseas workers," said Balladares-Pelaez, who has been a domestic worker in Hong Kong for 27 years.

"The problem is often the implementation of the programmes available. Many end up not being very helpful.

"The government wants to have everything concentrated in one agency. It may seem that they want to simplify things. But it's actually aggravating the labour exploitation policy, it's institutionalising it," the migrant leader argued, adding that she fears increased bureaucracy and costs.

"We think it's one of Duterte's tactics to gain support from migrant workers. He had six years to improve things for us, but in fact our situation has only gotten worse," Balladares-Pelaez said.

The Filipino labour rights group Sentro previously said that the dedicated agency "is not a step towards breaking our reliance on labour migration".

Jean Encinas-Franco, an associate professor at the University of the Philippines' department of political science, said the move further institutionalised the country's migration policy.

"A new department sends a message that we are going to be in this programme for the long haul, it seals the deal, it institutionalises the labour exportation as a policy," she said.

The new agency will not be tasked to do "something that other departments aren't already doing". If anything, a new department will make things move more slowly, Encinas-Franco said.

"The government in the Philippines moves very slowly and it is going to be difficult for an agency that is going to coordinate the work from so many other agencies. There will be turf wars, I am sure, and it will take time before they get their act together," the professor said. "Especially because there is going to be a new administration - people will need to wait for policy direction."

The presidential election will take place on May 9. Among the candidates is Philippine president's daughter Sara Duterte-Carpio, who is the running mate of Ferdinand Marcos Jnr.

Encinas-Franco said that more than anything, the announcement "is a good PR strategy for the government, to show that they are making headway in protecting migrant workers".

Yasmin Ortiga, assistant professor of sociology at the Singapore Management University, said the Philippines already had some of the most established procedures and policies against employer abuse and human trafficking. But whether they had any real impact was a different issue altogether.

"This new department will just make the process of emigration more complicated than it already is. I do not think it will make any difference in terms of workers' protection," she said.

Ortiga cited previous studies showing that many people had fallen through the cracks due to poor coordination among different government agencies.

"People are often confused about who to turn to, and all the red tape often slows the state's response to their needs. Adding another new agency into the mix is just going to make things worse," she said.

A new dedicated office, Ortiga added, "just makes the process more bureaucratic and more complicated than it should be".

Maruja Asis, director of the Scalabrini Migration Center, a Manila-based research centre focused on the study of migration in the Asia-Pacific region, also said that creating a new agency was unnecessary.

"In my view, there is no need to have a new law to enhance Overseas Filipino Workers' protection and/or to enhance the coordination of different government agencies providing support to them. We already have sufficient laws; what is needed is more effective implementation and enforcement," she said.

Asis noted that the multi-agency approach in place in the Philippines had been adopted by other countries.

"The basic premise of the new law is that by putting together the different agencies under one roof, Overseas Filipino Workers will be served better. I hope so - but as I maintain, do we need a new law, do we need a new bureaucracy to achieve this? Was a thorough study undertaken that identifies the critical gaps?"

The specialist said she would have liked to see the process beginning "with an empirical study to review the deficits under the current arrangements, rather than to pass a law first, then review whether the arrangements under the new law work".

Asis said such "law should not be a priority during this time". But its approval, she added, "has high symbolic value - for the many Overseas Filipino Workers who support president Duterte, the promised department is proof of his concern".

Raly Tejada, Philippine Consul General in Hong Kong, conceded that there would be challenges.

"Surely, there will be birth pains, as in any kind of transition," he said. "But the inter-agency transition team composed of highly trained and experienced professionals of the Philippine foreign service will surely find a way to make it as seamless as possible."

It is still unclear what the new department will look like.

The agency technically went into effect on February 3. However, a cabinet secretary needs to be appointed by the president and a transition team composed of several agencies, which the new department will absorb, has to be put together.

The organisational structure of the agency as well as the actual transfer of personnel are also yet to be known.

"Finally, the budget needs to be allocated by congress through the 2023 budget ... We reckon that the new Department of Migrant Workers can be operational by 2023 earliest," said Tejada.

The diplomat added that the Philippine foreign service posts, which have an Overseas Labour Office - like Hong Kong does - will start operating under the new agency next year at the earliest.

Tejada shrugged off claims of further confusion.

"On the contrary, it clarifies any confusion since the main rationale for the creation of the Department of Migrant Workers is not only to simplify and make efficient the procedures affecting the Filipino migrant workers but, more importantly, to create a one-stop-shop for the immediate and efficient assistance to distressed migrant workers," he said.

The diplomat also said that a new dedicated office would not necessarily institutionalise the Philippines' reliance on labour exportation.

"It is created mainly to ensure that rights of the migrants are strongly protected and that their welfare is efficiently and effectively promoted ... The aim really is to care for those who wish to work abroad and ultimately to ensure that they are reintegrated back into Philippine society," he said.

In addition to better services and programmes for migrant workers, Tejada said the new agency would also further ensure "accountability".

But workers like Balladares-Pelaez would prefer to see other specific measures.

"Instead of creating a department for migrants, we would prefer to see a programme supporting those returning to the country and look into ways to absorb them. We made that proposal to the government and they didn't listen," she said.

"We don't see the government creating options for Filipinos," the domestic worker said, referring to thousands of migrants struggling amid the pandemic.

There were some 3.27 million jobless Filipinos as of December, according to official data.

Going forward, Ortiga said that the migration process is likely to become "more costly and more time-consuming, even as new demands for migrant labour emerge in both old and new destination countries".

She noted that "the pandemic created a desire for more order and regulation in the migration process. This will come with more paperwork and processes to fulfil, and these costs will be pushed down to individual migrants to bear."

Asis said it was difficult to predict how patterns of migration would evolve.

"We are still living with the pandemic - much remains to be seen on how the post-pandemic migration landscape will pan out. Most likely, except for demand for health care workers, we will see a cautious reopening of labour markets for many skill levels over the next three years or so," she said, adding that stricter health protocols will remain in place for some time.

"With the repatriation of Overseas Filipino Workers and limited deployment - lower compared to [pre-pandemic levels] - the government will have to work harder at programmes that support sustainable return and reintegration," the specialist said.

In Asis' view, the country's overseas employment programme has gone through a lengthy process of institutionalisation. But, she noted, "after close to 50 years of labour migration, we have to think beyond labour migration".

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

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