MANILA, 29 January 2008 — A group of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) yesterday lambasted the government for its “grandstanding” and its “parasitic” hedge program saying that they are not contented with the country’s labor policies.

Migrante Middle East, a chapter of an alliance of OFWs and their families that have been in existence since 1989, said that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s pronouncements do not answer their problems and are meant only for grandstanding. It said the hedge program Arroyo launched in Dubai last Sunday, with the aim of protecting the remittances of overseas Filipinos from the weakening US dollar, does not consider the real situation of the OFWs abroad.

The program, which involves the state-owned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), provides for a pre-agreed exchange rate for overseas Filipinos if the peso further strengthens.

A remitter may choose to pay an “insurance fee” to the DBP at about 1.14 percent of the amount to be remitted to cover the remitter at a pre-agreed exchange rate if the peso strengthens, and to pay the prevailing market exchange rate if the peso weakens.

“We recognize that the strong peso has reduced the buying power of the remittances sent home by many of our Overseas Filipino Workers. But on the other hand, the peso has helped offset the impact of the rising cost of oil, so transportation fares have not gone up in spite of the high price of oil in the world market.

“It has reduced the amount of national debt we have to pay and therefore it has reduced interest rates, which helps your families buy homes or start businesses. It is contributed to lowering the price of imports and in the process, kept inflation down,” Arroyo said at the launching ceremony.

John Monterona, coordinator for Migrante Middle East, said the group considers the program to be unrealistic.

“This hedging fund that they launched only shows the Philippine administration is not aware of our real situation. Most of us are receiving an average of $500 salary per month. This hedge fund is for a minimum of $10,000 to avail of their favorable exchange rate. No matter how we work 24 hours a day, we can never get the lowest ceiling in three months,” said Monterona

Migrante also criticized Labor Secretary Arturo Brion for “grandstanding” during the 4th Ministerial Consultations on Overseas Employment and Contractual Labor for Countries of Origin and Destination in Asia in Abu Dhabi recently.

Brion claimed that the Arroyo government “scored high in its efforts to stop exploitation and promote the welfare of OFWs in the Middle East.”

Monterona explained that Migrante chapters receive an average of 15 OFW complaints per day in the Middle East alone. The figure does not include complaints reaching the Philippine embassies and consulates and other advocacy groups, such as the V-Team, Pusong Mamon Task Force, Juan! And Patnubay.com in Saudi Arabia.

“The labor secretary also does not know what he is saying because OFWs in the Middle East complain of contract substitution, over-charging of fees, physical and verbal maltreatment, sexual abuse and unfair labor practices, among others, said Monterona.

The group further scoffed at Arroyo’s statement issued by Malacañang Palace while she was in Davos, Switzerland.

Arroyo was quoted in the statement telling the Labor Department to review the contracts between foreign employers and OFWs so that “such contracts will stipulate that OFWs will be paid in pesos or dollar, whichever is stronger.”

Migrante said such a statement from an economics graduate at Georgetown University in the US and a professor at Ateneo de Manila University was unfortunate.

“The president does not know what she is saying. How can they review the contracts to specify that their salaries be in dollar or peso? How can they obligate the foreign employers of the specific denomination their employees should be paid for?” the group said.