Filipino-in-Afghanistan: Our Rights To Have Much Better and More Decent Kind of Life

Some FIA members participating in the Absentee Voting in 2010 National Elections

Recently, as per advice by our Kababayan in Filipino-in-Afghanistan (FIA), that we should write and let the website of the president be flooded by letters coming from Overseas Filipino Workers here until such time the Office of the President (OP) will give us the much needed attentions we have been longing for.

So I wrote letter to President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III with similar tone and content last December 26, 2010 hoping to catch PNoy’s attention.

The FIA had already sent previously numerous letters and messages to OP since the time of Gloria Arroyo, and so far nothing has come up closed to reality, not even a vague positive response. The sad part in present time, when Vice President Jejomar Binay assumed responsibilities over the OFWs as Presidential Adviser on OFWs concerns, he proposed the imposition of sanctions and possible cancellation of passports for those who will violate the travel.

"Buhay nila ang nakataya. We are concerned with that, kung hindi nabibigyan ng sufficient na penalty di napipigilan gawa ng gawa ng hindi tama," he said. (excerpt from ABS-CBN News)

The thing is who do you think is the one who is not doing the right thing? Is it us here or VP Binay being a lawyer who is expected to be well-versed in laws, that he should know that cancellation of passports is a clear violation of the constitutional guarantee of right to travel.

There are certain acts and conditions wherein cancellation of passport could be possible under Foreign Service Act of 1991 and Philippine Passport Law (RA 8239). Definitely the act of violating a travel ban to war zone is not one of them.

Under Section 8, (c) of RA 8239, passport may bear some government restrictions and that is why we have the travel ban stamp on the “Limitation” page of our passports. But as you can see in section (b), violation of such limitations does not constitute cancellation or otherwise confiscations or technical detention of our passport

Just like what happened to those five OFWs returning to their jobs last December 14, 2010 at Terminal 1 of Ninoy Aquino International Airport, allow me not to mention their names since I do not have their permission to do so, but FIA has full knowledge about what happened to them. Their passports were confiscated and the time of this writing, their passports are still being withheld by those officers who confiscated their passports. The immigration officers who confiscated their passport reiterated their acts is based on the alleged guidance from the VP. Probably to teach these OFWs how to do the right thing, for "paulit-ulit na di paggawa ng tama"

The following is an excerpt from RA 8239:

Sec. 8. Grounds for Denial, Cancellation or Restrictions. — The application for passport may be denied, cancelled or restricted only on the following grounds:

(a) Denial of Passport

1. On orders of the court, after due notice and hearing, to hold the departure of an applicant because of a pending criminal case:

2. When so requested by the natural or legal guardian, if the applicant is a minor;

3. When the applicant has been found to have violated any of the provisions of this Act;

4. Such other disqualification under existing laws.

(b)Cancellation

1. When the holder is a fugitive from justice;

2. When the holder has been convicted of a criminal offense: Provided, That the passport may be restored after service of sentence; or

3. When a passport was acquired fraudulently or tampered with.

(c) Restricted

1. When the country of destination is in a state of political instability which could pose a danger to the Filipino traveler.

2. When diplomatic ties have been fractured or severed with the Philippines;

3. When the country of destination is subject to travel restriction by government policy, enforcement of action by the United Nations or in a state of war.

Here’s my argument in addition to most FIA contentions why there is a need to lift the aging travel ban to Afghanistan, this also part of my letter to PNoy:

The United States Government, as we all know, issued memorandum to send OFWs in Afghanistan home. So we are no longer allowed to work in US Bases and to all companies with US Government contracts. This is precisely because of the existing travel ban that we have and tolerating our presence will constitute violation of Anti-Human Smuggling Laws according to USG.

Without this ban the USG will let the OFWs to stay and keep their job. Interestingly, Filipinos are the most preferred third country nationals in war zone because of our excellent and professional work performances, but of course US cannot do anything about this sovereign declaration of travel ban by the Philippine government.

So our fate lies solely with our own government. The idea of transferring the OFWs here to other countries is indeed a good idea, but definitely not the best one for our welfare. And that is the reason why we keep on knocking to the Palace’s doors to check on the loop of circling problems of OFWs in Afghanistan. The government cannot point to anybody or to anywhere to look for someone or something to blame with in order to justify the travel ban, because there is none aside from the government itself who issued it.

Take into consideration the reality of life and expenses of going and working abroad, on how life of an OFW changes. Say for instance the issue of having better salary. Since we have undeniably high salary in Afghanistan, our projects for the family, like buying a house, is also equal to the mode of acquiring it. It is not practical to get a 20-year installment term in buying a house when you can get it in shorter period.

Of course, we want it to get paid as soon as possible so we can go home and retire. Besides, who knows when the war and the opportunities in the war zone will end, so we need to hurry up!

This is also true to some other installment basis family projects that we have right now like installment cars, installment business investments, educational and life plan insurances, and many others of the same category, not to mention the idea of sending our children to better school so they will not form part of the massive unemployed graduates from not so popular schools.

With this current job that we have, we have already increased our monthly expenditures, like electric bill, this is understandably due to having more appliances, bigger food budget, education allotment, again installment properties, other commercial services like cable TV, internet, landline telephone, cost of maintenance, and of course allotment of some dear relatives.

Others may call it extravagant, but we have the right to becoming “maging maluho” if that would be the proper term on how we cared for and pamper our family. That is just a compliment for taking the risks.

This is how we dream our lives to be, so that we can afford paying decent and better hospital, and live in decent and safe neighborhood.

Now, if we will be stopped at airport, have our passport confiscated and eventually we are going to lost our jobs here, how can we be able to pay our existing loans? Are we going to let our children to stop their education or transfer them to some inferior schools and be unemployed afterwards?

We have the right to dream for a better life too. It is maybe true that it will be easy for us to find a job somewhere else. Working with US and NATO is a good training ground as they really strictly follow international standard to the letter.

But then again getting a salary closed to what we are getting is almost next to impossibility, not to mention the stiff competition in the wild, wild world. If we will get a smaller salary which is not sufficient with our current family budget, how can we be able to continue paying our current bills and loans that we already have?

Instead of trying to let us understand their hard-to-understand justifications for the continuous imposition of the travel ban, why they might not as well take a pause and hear us out. It is much easier to understand our reasons.

One of our requests is to let a team of Department of Foreign Affairs representatives visit us here and make an assessment if the travel ban is still necessary. We believe that the ban is long overdue and what we need is a strict regulation to counter those Filipinos who will come here to try their luck in getting a job, not knowing that the travel ban affects the hiring of Filipinos.

If the ban will be lifted, more opportunities will come in but as I said a strict policy on hiring and deployment should be implemented so that no OFW will be deployed in remote places where security is not that tight. This is because there are also places here, especially those bordering Pakistan, that are still having some security issues. We are not lying about that. It is like working in Makati and working in Basilan. Not because there is a security issue in Basilan, it is already proper to say that Philippines is a dangerous place of work. Of course not!

At the moment, majority of vacationing OFWs here opted to spend their vacation in some Southeast Asian countries, in Dubai, and in nearby countries fearing that once they entered the Philippines they cannot go back to their respective jobs. They will let their families travel outside the country to spend quality times with them somewhere else. Most of us here, numbering in thousands OFWs, are spending vacation every after 3 months of work for minimum two weeks.

Has anyone imagine the hundreds of thousands of dollars we are spending in other countries, instead of spending them in the Philippines? It could already help boost our local market and local tourism.

In my point of view, the only thing illegal is our itinerary or the idea that we going to Afghanistan whatever door we may exit from the Philippines, back or front door it doesn’t matter. This is because our final destination is Afghanistan where there is an existing travel ban. This is so true based on our government,s point of view.

Ironically, just like the one-way celebration of Filipino-American Friendship day where we are the only ones claiming and celebrating the supposedly mutual relation, in the view of Afghanistan republic OFWs are perfectly legal in the country having legal visa, legal work permit, and legal contract.

And here is the thing, never that OFWs in Afghanistan put the image of the Filipinos in jeopardy compared to those OFWs who have committed crimes against their host nations and eventually adds to the burden of our government in saving them from their death sentences. Nobody from here has been charged for murder or being drug mules. The fact the most of OFWs here are holding key positions, they have gained the trust and confidence of their employers and have already built good relations with them.

Finally, bear in mind that there is nothing more dangerous than losing our jobs.

Maling Pag-ibig ng Pag-IBIG Para sa OFWs

Ayus din ang Pag-IBIG at Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) para igiit na mandatory ang Pag-IBIG contribution. Aanuhin ba yan? Kaniya-kaniya trip ang pagkuha ng bahay pati ang paglo-loan ng emergency cash, at ang trip niyong dalawa ay di trip ng majority ng Overseas Filipino Workers.

Ano ba makukuha ng OFWs sa "legalized kotong" na ito? Ikaw na reader, ano ba para sa 'yo ang ang Pag-IBIG? Di ba first thing that would come to your mind is housing loan? Correct! Dahil this contribution would be for the Home Mutual Development Fund (HMDF) of Pag-IBIG. Magiging eligible na nga naman ang OFW for housing loan, kung trip mong mag housing loan. Kung di mo trip, pugo nila ang P600 mo para sa capital nila!

E paano kung every 2 years ang renewal of contract mo at every 2 years ang bakasyon mo, so balewala na sayo ang P600 pesos dahil kada dalawang taon ka lang magbabayad ng Balik-Manggagawa kung sakaling kasama ito dun. Parang magaan di ba? Pero nasaan na yung P600 mo na binayad mo nung unang alis mo? Nasa Pag-IBIG pa rin syempre, tambay lang yun dun, pag trip mo nang pakinabangan, bayaran mo yung balanse kasi pang 6 months lang yun e. Kumbaga di ka nagbayad ng ilang buwan habang nasa abroad ka at nagpapaka-kuba sa trabaho.

So pwede pa rin! Paano kung na-leche employment mo? Natural kakalimutan mo yung P600. Maliit lang e. Paano kung 1,000 kayong na-leche sa buong mundo, magkano na yun? Paano kung buwan-buwan may 1,000 OFWs ang naleleche sa buong mundo, magkano na yun sa isang taon? Magkano yung contribution na hindi napapakinabangan ng nag-contribute? Paano kung hindi lang 1,000 OFWs ang nale-leche buwan-buwan sa buong mundo? Ilan silang nagbabale-wala sa halagang P600?

Negative thinker ang dating ko di ba? Pero positive na nangyayari 'yan dahil natutulungan ba madalas ang OFWs? Natutulungan pag na-leche na, kung kailangan ng iuwi ang bangkay. Kung kailangang ilabas sa kulungan, kung overloaded na ang mga embassy sa TNT. Pero yung ma-prevent na ma-leche, nagagawa ba ng POEA? Paano na lang kung hindi na-imbento ang Migrante International?

Mabuti na lang nandyan si VP Jejomar Binay di ba? Kahit di ka matalino alam mong kotong na malinaw yun eh. Sa dami-dami na ngang kumukotong sa Bagong Bayani kuno, sasali pa ang Pag-IBIG? Sa mga taga-Pag-IBIG, ayusin niyo ang buhay nyo para di nalulugi mga pa-bahay niyo, hindi yung mamimilit kayo na maging miyembro lahat na OFWs ng Pag-IBIG.

Mag-abroad din kayo! Maghanap-buhay kayo ng maayos para kumita kayo hindi yung nag-iisip kayo ng pagkakakitaan sa di patas na paraan, na akala niyo mga bobo ang OFWs eh.

Eh kung ayaw ng housing loan dahil may bahay na, pipilitin niyo pa rin? OK din takbo ng isip niyo parang nabilad sa init ang mga utak niyo ah. Baka sa susunod niyan maglalabas ng Circular na mandatory na pasalubong mula sa Duty Free at kailangan sa Duty Free sa NAIA, kundi di ka makakalabas ng airport. Tapos may minimum amount pa ang dapat bilihin, yari na!

Iba na lang pag-tripan niyo. Ibang style ng marketing and fund-generation strategies. Baka mamaya maki-connive naman ang Pag-IBIG sa Land Transportation Office at pilitin ang mga drivers na maging members ng Pag-IBIG, o kaya sa Department of Education, para estudyante pa lang puwede nang mag-housing loan. Madami bang "Dangerous Mind" sa opisina nila? Sabagay, sabi nga walang basagan ng trip, kaso binasag ni VP Binay ang trip nila.

Nagkakalimutan kasi eh, si VP Binay na po ang pangalawang pangulo at wala na po ang Wowowee, naleche na yun! Para 'yang grupong kakilala ko, sa dami ng magagaling di pa sikat lumubog na. Na-over ! Natira puro guts na lang at pag-iisip nila na puro pagtakas sa katotohanang laos na agad sila !

Thanks, Vice President Binay sa maayos na pag-aksyon..simple at akmang aksyon ang ginawa nyo!

LET'S DO OUR PART- AS OUR PATRIOTIC ACT

So what's next?

President-elect Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III and Vice President-elect Jejomar Binay were finally and officially proclaimed to be the next leaders of the nation last Wednesday June 8, 2010, after excruciating speeches from some members of the Congress and now we can say in the next few days will be the moment of truth for the Filipinos. And again just like the previous transitions of administrations, Filipinos have been used to the "wait and see" attitude. They will wait until the new administration fails and then will start criticizing and create an atmosphere that we have made the wrong choice or the Filipinos had been deceived. Which is why we also get used to have a critical start up for new administration every time the new one assumes the post.

We should change this attitude-Right NOW!

We spent enormous efforts during the recent campaign in order to put the two gentlemen in Malacañang, we should not waste these efforts just like the million-peso campaign materials that were rendered useless after the election. Noynoy's and Binay's failure will be the failure of the whole new government and the Filipino nation, so as I said that fact that we voted for Noynoy and Binay, it does not mean we will stop from there and leave to the new administration our personal aspirations in life.

The fight is not yet over, it has only just begun.

Our point here is the change of attitude form "wait and see" being static into a dynamic attitude. We should think and act as if we have the same aspirations as what Noynoy and Binay have in implementing our daily plans and activities and these should be geared towards the betterment of our plight, uplifting the poor living condition, and upgrading the Filipino image around the world. We should formulate solutions on some of the problems right in our immediate vicinity, and let us not wait for the long arm of the government to reach and help us if we can solve the issues ourselves. Noynoy said we need to identify clearly the problem to get specific and appropriate solution to it . Let's us all be pro-active this time. This the best time to start a new beginning in order to give new meaning to the spirit of volunteerism. If we can truly contribute an individual micro-solution and put them altogether, it is more than enough act of heroism.

After all it is us who actually bring about the "Noy-Bi administration" into existence through our volunteerism, on-line organization and revolutionized activism, which had never been tried before in the same manner and in the same magnitude and yes, it was proven effective. Thereby, we have now implied obligations to support and help them so they will not fail.

What we need is the continuity of this volunteerism attitude which rather focus in nation building and not towards the election anymore. We need to turn and shift it to social economic purposes in order to somehow help the new government that we put into power. Obviously we already have well-organized groups that are well-bonded and had worked well during the campaign in the recent election, we therefor should not put our organized groups back to the cupboard for the next national election, but rather let them join the new administration in their new patriotic causes and commitment to fight corruption, help the poor, generate more employment, improve public health, upgrade education system, reliable justice system, peace and order, and so on and so forth.

Recently, I have received a short forwarded email thread from Filipino in Afghanistan (FIA) and the topic was referring to the big amount of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) and its temporary effect to the Philippine economy. Rasyl Abela (I am not so sure if he belongs to FIA,) said that most of the big amounts sent to OFW families back home are spent on the daily basis for basic necessities and for personal extravagance like expensive cellphone, plasma television set, expensive cars, houses and others. I admired his thought and the point is actually based on reality. Clearly, with this style of expenditures what has been contributed by this big amount of remittances to Philippine economy is just an active local market and business movement due to strong buying power of most OFW families. Aside from that, there is nothing more.

Based on his line of thinking, I think it is high time to divert now the focus of this volunteerism and do the ambitious, unthinkable and probably most patriotic act. If those volunteer organizations abroad that helped in the election and are still set up by smart mechanism and management will contribution to generate funds and invest in the country to create more jobs , we can probably eradicate portion of a national cancer that tends to kill our progress. They can select which types of heroic acts they will engage into after thorough consultation and studies, whether they will opt to venture on strict business that will generate local employment or simply engage with different poverty eradication programs.

Take for instance the Filipino migrant workers. If the OFW-groups based all over the world could put up funds and invest into a business that requires more numbers of laborers it can help reduce local unemployment. Although this type of Bayanihan maybe already existing, we need to advocate extensively and invite other groups to do the same. As it helps the country, it will also generate extra income for every member who shared for the investment.

How noble it would it be if we can have a reversed method on labor and job-bunting system that instead of the job-hunter will go and risk everything to get a job somewhere else, it will be the business or the opportunity itself will go to the remote provinces in order to reach those Filipinos who cannot afford to leave their places to look for a job and be displaced

Finally, maybe through this effort, we can be part and of help to what Noynoy's ultimate goal "to let the Filipinos work abroad by choice and not by force of necessities."