RIYADH, 10 December 2006 — OFWs going home for vacation this Christmas are invited to attend a forum that will tackle the concerns of families abandoned by Overseas Filipino Workers.
The 4th Dr. Alfredo J. Ganapin Advocacy Round Table Discussion, organized by the Center for Migrant Advocacy (CMA) Philippines and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), is scheduled on Dec. 15 from 9 a.m. to 12 noon at the University Hotel, University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City.
Ellen Sana, CMA executive director, said its partners and networks overseas and in the Philippines are welcome to e-mail their input to [email protected] before the forum date.
Queries on related concerns are also welcome so that they will be included in the discussions, she said.
Named after the late Alfredo Ganapin, once a leading advocate of OFW rights in Riyadh, the discussion focuses on the impact of migration on families, women and children left behind.
It aims “to better understand and address the issue of family abandonment vis-a-vis labor migration, to know how the various government migration-related agencies approach and address the problems, to identify the gaps in existing laws, policies and practices vis-a-vis OFW family abandonment and financial support, and to come up with concrete practical social and legal remedies to family abandonment by OFWs as well as concrete support programs to woman parents/spouses left behind.”
According to a study, members of families left behind by OFWs complain of irregular, inadequate and even total discontinuation of financial support. One reason commonly cited was the founding of another family by the OFW member.
She said various migrant-oriented government agencies will be invited to share their responses and approaches to the issue.
One of the resource speakers include lawyers Farah G. Decano, chair, of the Committee on Children, Women and Family Relations of the Dagupan City Council, to expound on existing laws, policies and practices on family, women and children-related issues and concerns. Another speaker is Henry S. Rojas, CMA legal counsel and founding member of the Lawyers’ League for Liberty (Libertas) — an association of young lawyers committed to judicial and social reforms.
Previous forums tackled issues such as reflections on labor migration policies and directions, OFWs through and from Mindanao — irregular migration and trafficking, the 2006 ILO maritime convention, implications for a Magna Carta for Filipino seafarers, and social cost of migration.
Anyone interested to attend the discussion are encouraged contact Sana at +632-9205003 or send an e-mail.
