MANILA, 5 May 2003 - Migrante International yesterday said Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas' refusal to take action on the Unified Contract scheme being pushed by the Saudi National Recruitment Committee (Sanarcom) only proves that she was behind the "sellout" of Filipino migrant workers.
It was but natural that Sto. Tomas would not accept responsibility for the contract, which had been condemned as "unfair," "onerous" and a violation of Philippine laws by Overseas Filipino Workers, nongovernment organizations, lawmakers and even by recruitment agencies and other government officials.
"No criminal will admit his/her own crime," Migrante secretary-general Poe Gratela said in a press statement.
Sto. Tomas had earlier rejected a fact-finding committee's recommendation that the government protest the Unified Contract scheme, which is feared to make life harder for Filipino domestic workers in the Kingdom.
Among the specific issues raised against the UC is that it allows contract substitution, a practice by some unscrupulous employers which is prohibited by laws of both Saudi Arabia and the Philippines.
Migrante said Sto. Tomas' arrogant position cannot cover up her responsibility in facilitating the scheme.
"She is instrumental in advocating the slashing of the wages and curtailment of the rights and welfare of our overseas compatriots ...," the group said.
Migrante said Sto. Tomas' active role, which she denies, explains the Sanarcom representatives' overeager efforts to peddle the new scheme to recruitment agencies in the Philippines.
While Sri Lanka and Indonesia, the other major suppliers of domestic helpers to the Kingdom, have reportedly rejected the UC, Sto. Tomas said she was not taking any action because the Unified Contract was an agreement between two private organizations - Sanarcom and the Overseas Placement Agencies of the Philippines (OPAP).
Even as Sto. Tomas refused to listen, the Saudi Embassy in Manila heeded the protests and defered the implementation of the controversial contract indefinitely.
On orders of President Gloria Arroyo, Sto. Tomas had earlier formed a committee to look into the contract and to make a recommendation on what action the government would take.
Last week, the committee headed by National Labor Relations Commission chief Roy Seneres reported out its findings that even some officials of OPAP were denying that they have signed the contract as a group.
At least two OPAP leaders have told separate hearings by the Se–eres committee and a House of Representatives commitee on labor that they also found the UC "onerous" not only to workers but also to local recruitment agencies.
The committee then asked the Department of Labor and Employment to initiate a protest against the Sanarcom plan.
But Sto. Tomas rejected the recommendation and told Se–eres to protest on his own if he objected to the scheme.
