WeDpro, Inc. A feminist collective working for women’s empowerment

WeDpro welcomes the signing of RA 9745 or the Anti-Torture Law. This development came right in time of the visit of US State Secretary Hillary Clinton.

From WeDpro's perspective, violence against women (and children) in all its forms constitute torture.

WeDpro will remain vigilant in monitoring the implementation of this law. The next step is to ensure that a strong gender perspective is framed in the development of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of RA 9745.

The copy of RA 9745 will be uploaded soon and made available in this site.

WeDpro has been able to share many of its previous publications and rescue some of its video documents through the work of Raphael Acebo, Michelle Camacho. Michael Romero, and Marcelo Espiritu, students from De La Salle College of Saint Benilde's School of Deaf Education and Applied Studies. From August, 2009, to September, 2009, the four students digitized and uploaded previous publications and videos by WeDpro. WeDpro's thanks goes to them!

Archiving our publications and video material and sharing them with the public remains an ongoing task at WeDpro. Below are some of the these videos.

Pagububunyag

Women and Men Creating a Culture of Peace

Women of the Bases

MUSMOS NA MGA PANGARAP

The face of migration for work is the face of a Filipino woman. In 2006, 75 percent of the 1,062,567 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) deployed were women. More than 3,000 Filipinos leave each day as OFWs, reportedly with women constituting around seventy percent. Many of them leave as domestic helpers (DH), nannies, factory workers and entertainers. There are a growing number of nurses and other professionals joining the ranks of our OFWs.

Changes in labor policies of receiving countries have affected Filipino migrant workers. While the Malaysian government has officially stopped its crackdown on foreign migrant workers, hundreds of OFWs continue to languish in various jails in Malaysia. It has been reported that the Philippine government is negotiating with the Malaysian authorities for an agreement to protect Filipino migrant workers. The Switzerland-based International Organization for Migration (IOM) Authorities has reported that by the third quarter of 2006, some 4,000 OFWs were repatriated with its help.

My sister’s daughter recently left for overseas work as a DH for Dubai. Up to this writing, she has no work contract, has been told that she could not have a day off, cannot use the phone, and has virtually been isolated from the outside world. Yet, upon checking, the local agency that recruited her and others are in the list of licensed agencies with the POEA. It seems that getting a licensed recruitment company is not a guarantee for our OFWs.

As Kanlungan says, “The situation of overseas Filipino workers remains precarious. Even before they leave the country, they already experience human and labor rights violations. Upon return from overseas work, in the absence of an effective reintegration program, they have to face yet again joblessness, the very reason for leaving the country to work abroad. “

Kanlungan, Filipino for “sanctuary” was born in July 17, 1989 to help Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), especially women, and their families. It is a non-government, non-stock, non-profit organization. Until 1992, Kanlungan served as a crisis intervention center for prospective and returned migrant workers and their families. For better social effectivity and more holistic intervention, it expanded its services to include legislative and policy advocacy, organizing of families of overseas workers, education and training, research, information and publications and, recently, local economy development and capability building. Kanlungan believes that only by enhancing the workers’ individual and collective strengths and advocating for social and policy change can the institution make a dent in the overall situation of the Filipino/a migrant. Kanlungan recently won an award for its “Zero Illegal Recruitment ITTI La Union project.

It is not easy to judge Filipinos who go abroad to work and call them cop-outs. Unemployment and underemployment continue to mark the landscape of the Philippines. The countries needing migrant workers also continue to grow. In early 2006, POEA identified Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Island, Australia and New Zealand, New Caledonia, African, and Europe as top destinations of OFWs. Later, POEA included Canada in the top list of new and emerging markets particularly after the Canadian province of Saskatchewan and Manitoba signed an agreement with POEA for the deployment of highly skilled Filipino workers. Australia has opened its market to our engineers, where, I was told they could bring their families.

Women are the ones that are more affected by migration. When they leave, especially the mothers, they leave their own children behind and take care of other children if they end up as domestic helpers or nannies. They also face more abuse and exploitation then their male counterparts. And yet, true to the Filipino tradition, they serve a key role in the maintenance of their families, both materially and spiritually. True, there had been countless of stories of abuse against Filipina OFWs, but it is their resilience that enables them to make the sacrifices for their families. My niece has joined their rank.

The family of my niece is now seeking the help of Kanlungan to assist my niece. Its track record in assisting migrant workers is known in the country. As a matter f fact, Kanlungan recently won an award for its “Zero Illegal Recruitment ITTI La Union project.

The Philippines has been hailed as a model country for its labor export program. In many ways, this can be so. But the continuing gaps in migration management are a disservice to millions of Pinoys whose remittances has been a key economic buoy for the government. OFWs are not only the modern-day heroes, as they have been called. They are the symbol of Filipino resiliency and hope as they save their families from hunger and ignorance, putting food on the table and sending their children to school.

Migration is fraught with uncertainties. Its temporary nature put millions of lives of migrant families under severe stress. Their problems, present and future, are part of the risks of overseas migration for work. My niece’s experience is a shared one. Nobody knows what she’ll make out of her own precarious situation in a land that promises a better life for her own family.

It is the presence of migrants’ organizations such as Kanlungan that makes migration an issue that national and international organizations cannot ignore, and in fact, continue to put the issues and concerns of OFWs in many negotiating tables. This is a service where we can pin our hopes for a better treatment of our OFWs. The Filipino diaspora is both a bane and a boon, and Kanlungan, along with other non-government organizations, is making a difference for all of us – the OFWs and those left behind.

***
Aida F. Santos

For Global Pinoy / Article 1, April 19, 2008

To contact Kanlungan Centre Foundation, Inc. (Center for Migrant Workers)
Email: kcfi@philonline.com.ph
Website: www.kanlungan.com.ph
Address: 77 K10th Street, Kamias, Quezon City
Telephone No. (632) 9282384
Telefax: (632) 4330953