MANILA, 21 December 2002 — President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and non-government organizations yesterday launched the first OFW Family Circle Congress as part of the reintegration program for Filipino migrant workers.
Labor Undersecretary Lucita Lazo said the congress, held in Trece Martires city in Cavite, calls for the establishment of a nationwide network of OFW families and dependents to help in the delivery of government social services.
Using this strategy, the DOLE organizes OFW families into cooperatives and workers associations, forming them into mutual support groups that facilitate access to government programs and assistance.
“This is our response to returning migrants. We wish them to rejoin the mainstream of Philippine society through support, livelihood and welfare services under the reintegration program,” said Lazo, who is in charge of returning migrant workers and the so-called “informal sector.”
Cavite was selected as venue of the first-time event because the province, just south of Manila, hosts the highest number of organized OFW families among the country’s provinces. Cavite boasts of 6,021 family organizations, Lazo said.
Dr. Rachel Garcia, president of OFWNet and one of the civil society partners in the effort, said the congress was highly successful, judging by the attendance alone.
“It was well attended and well-received,” Garcia told Arab News, adding that “it was a commendable effort because various government agencies were participating in the congress.”
She said the president explained further the partnership between the government and NGOs in the reintegration effort. She expressed hope that the event would be duplicated.
Perla Vega, who founded the Movement to Help Eradicate Rape (Mother) in Riyadh, noted that the president even stayed longer than expected.
According to Undersecretary Lazo, the participation of OFW families is crucial in the success of the reintegration program, considering the huge number of Filipinos working abroad.
Lazo said there only about 154,000 organized OFW families, which means more work has to be done.
Data provided by the National Statistics Office (NSO show that there are close to one million households in the Philippines with at least one OFW member. Of the more than 7 million Filipinos living abroad, about 5 million are said to be contract workers and the rest are migrants.
The common concern is how the contract workers would continue to be a productive part of the Philippine economy when they return home. It is not uncommon to hear of OFWs who have come home for good, only to return abroad because they could not find any meaningful livelihood or source of income at home.
In view of this growing problem, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) started the government’s reintegration program in 1987. Subsequently, the Hong Kong-based Asian Migrant Center also pushed reintegration programs in the 1990s.
Parallel efforts are being held abroad, such as the livelihood and entrepreneurial seminars being conducted by various OFW organizations in Saudi Arabia.
Another part of the reintegration program whose effectiveness had been underestimated is the administration of licensure examinations abroad to OFWs.
