HOUSE OF CONGRESS                                           OFFICE OF REPRESENTATIVE

   Republic of the Philippines                                                       ARIEL C. HERNANDEZ

           Quezon City                                                                  Anak Mindanao Party List

                                                                                                          August 24, 2009

______________________________________________________________________________

Mr. Speaker, Maayong Hapon! To you my colleagues, fellow travelers, Madagway Daluman! Assalamu Alaikum! Peace be with you all!

The Philippines is the third largest labor sending country in the world. In 2008, 1,376,823 Filipino workers were deployed all over the globe according to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA). Remittances by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) reached $16.43 billion in 2008, thus making them a dependable source of foreign exchange for the economy.  They are indeed silent savior of our economy. The stories of our Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) are very well known to some of us. They are our fellow Filipinos who risk abuse, discrimination and separation from their families to earn a living doing mostly blue collar jobs overseas. Our OFWs are truly a testament to the lack of well-paying jobs for our countrymen and the desperation and helplessness felt by many in our own land.  And the exodus continues with no end in sight.

While the travails of many OFWs in the Middle East, Hongkong and Singapore are much publicized and talked about by the tri media, rarely do we hear about this class of persons and social phenomena called the halaws --- a derogatory term meaning “outcast” --- labeled as such by Malaysian nationals.  Maybe the 1^st and the last time people hear about the issue was in 2005-2006 when Malaysia deported at least a thousand per week where we have to use our navy boats to help in that massive deportation. Since then, there seems no news that has been heard about them again. They suffered everyday, not many of us knew, away from our government’s attention and care.

            A mix of economic and political factors has opened up Sabah to immigrants from its closest neighbors. Filipino Muslims fleeing a separatist insurgency came in the first wave in the early 1970s. Economic migrants flocked during East Asia’s stellar decade of growth before the 1997 financial crisis. The pressing poverty and demand for cheap labor in Sabah’s agriculture and construction industries have kept them going. According to unofficial estimates, there are about 400,000 undocumented Filipino workers in Sabah and Sarawak, out of the estimated 600,000 total number of foreign migrant workers.

Ladies and Gentleman, in the next few minutes please lend me your attention and compassion as I share to you the situation of our fellow migrant Filipinos, 95% of whom are Mindanawans. Presently, about 500 of them weekly are being deported from Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysia. I will share to you their stories from the conversations I have with the deportees and from the report I gathered from those who were able to visit the detention centers in Sabah.

Last month, I had a chance to dialogue with some of the deportees in Zamboanga. My heart was in agony upon seeing a tiny one-month old baby in the arms of a skinny mother. Reported as severely malnourished, this mother delivered her baby while in detention.  When I asked about her husband, she was shy and told me that he is still in the detention center in Sabah.  Another woman was also mentally deranged because of hunger, physical and mental abuse, according to the DSWD official who takes care of the deportees.

These migrant Filipino workers work without permits and proper documentation, thus they are arrested by Malaysian immigration officials from their houses, work places and even in public places like plazas. They are then herded into lorries, which are used to carry goods and materials. At detention centers, 200 to 500 deportees occupy one cell. They are made to sleep on the floor, made of either wood or cement, without any mattress. They are given food but not enough to feed everyone.

At the detention center in Sabah, about 200 to 500 detainees share 1 pail of potable water. They depend on the rain for bathing and washing their clothes. No medical attention or services are given to those who get sick while inside their cells. Jail guards kick, slap and even rape some detainees as punishments undue to them. There are no special considerations for the infants, children and senior citizens. They are all treated as common criminals in Malaysia. 

Detainees’ personal belongings, money and even food that are brought in by their visitors are confiscated. When its time for them to be deported back to Mindanao, they are handcuffed and loaded into overcrowded buses. At the pier, they are ordered to sit down for the head count before they are deported batch by batch in a ferry from Sabah to Zamboanga City. IN SHORT, Mr. Speaker, THEY ARE SIMPLY BUT CRUELLY TREATED AS CRIMINALS.

            Based on our research, the Labor laws of Sabah and Sarawak give benefits such as rest day, hours of work, prescribed holidays, shift work, maternity leave, and termination, lay-off and retirement benefits to foreign workers. Yet still Filipino workers, many of whom are undocumented, suffer abuses in the hands of their employers. These Filipino workers do not get the wages promised to them by their employers or sometimes they do not get their wages at all. They are also denied of food and other basic necessities in their work places.

            Despite these abuses, these Filipino workers are afraid to file complaints against their employers for fear of being deported. Under Malaysia’s Immigration Act, those who enter and stay in Malaysia without a valid work permit are punished by a fine not exceeding RM10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or to both, and shall also be liable to whipping of not more than 6 strokes of the rotan (cane).

            Mr. Speaker, it is not only our migrant Filipino workers in Sabah and Sarawak who suffer because of their undocumented situation. The city government of Zamboanga, getting a never-ending influx of deportees --- around 500 per week --- is also incapable of absorbing this number of deportees. The resources of the city government and the national government are very much strained and cannot accommodate thousands of deportees who are brought to the city every year.

            This is not an easy task, my esteemed colleagues. Dealing with the problem of statelessness and human rights abuses faced by our migrant Filipino workers in Sabah and Sarawak will never be easy. Malaysia refuses to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers and their Families and other international instruments that accord humane treatment to foreign workers in its territory.  

            While Anak Mindanao is gravely concerned of the situation of Filipinos as it involves hundreds of thousands of Mindanawons, we are not here to lambast Malaysia of its blatant human rights violations against Filipinos, against Mindanawans.  We are here to offer a solution to the seemingly unending problem of migration.

There is a modest yet laudable effort of President Arroyo which was the issuance of Administrative Order that organizes the one stop shop processing center (OSPC) to take care of the deportees, making sure they can be taken cared of after disembarkation at Zamboanga Port and providing the necessary resources to get back to their families.  But this did not change the whole landscape.  The story continues…

            Now, this humble representation believes that Anak Mindanao believes that the government can do more and can make these hundred of thousands of undocumented workers as major contributor to our economy, rather than a burden for the government- both national and local.  Anak Mindanao believes this can be done! The right direction is to transform the status of halaws into OFWs who will make significant contributions to our country’s economic well-being. WE WILL HELP THEM TRANSFORM THEMSELVES. WE WILL ALLOW THEM MAKE SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION IN OUR ECONOMY!

            Toward this end, we therefore propose the following initiatives:

1.      We call on the Institute of Labor Studies (ILS) of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to study the labor market of Sabah and Sarawak to determine what industries are open for our OFWs and what skills are needed to fill this demand. As the lead policy research and advocacy arm of the DOLE, ILS provides timely advice to DOLE toward policy review and formulation, through its policy researches.

2.      We call on the Office of the President to revise of EO 166 to incorporate to its functions the role of OSPC to process the documentation of migrant workers and make sure they are well employed based on the job demands in Sabah and Sarawak because their skills fits the need of the employers.

3.      We call on the Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDCo) which acts as the official and permanent Philippine Coordinating Office (PCO) for the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) to actively engage in discussions with BIMP-EAGA member countries to reactivate and convene the 8^th Working Group on Human Resource Development and People Mobility and explore the following options for the regularization of our migrant Filipino workers in Sabah and Sarawak, majority of whom are engaged in the agriculture and construction industries:

a.     Pooling agreement between the local governments of ZAMBOSULTA and the states of Sabah and Sarawak to provide easily accessible legal channels for the entry of migrant Filipino workers to Sabah and Sarawak;

b.     Bilateral labor agreement (BLA) between the Philippines’ DOLE and Sabah’s and Sarawak’s Departments of Labor to facilitate training and hiring of migrant Filipino workers to meet Sabah’s and Sarawak’s labor demand; and

c.     Private sector agreements between trade unions and chambers of commerce in Mindanao and Palawan and Sabah and Sarawak for the regularization of migrant Filipino workers and respect for their rights under labor laws.

With this initiative, we strongly believe that it is time for the halaws to be elevated to the status of OFWs deserving of the government’s protection.

I believe in the Filipino people, in the overseas mindanawan workers in particular for this matter. THEY WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE IF THEY WILL BE TREATED AS HUMANS WHO TRULY DESERVE OUR RESPECT, UNDERSTANDING AND COMPASSION. MORE THAN EVER, Mr. SPEAKER, LET US PROVIDE THE OPPORTUNITY FOR THE HUNDRED OF MINDANAWANS TO TRANSFORM THEMSELVES AS FULL TIME OVERSEAS MINDANAWAN WORKERS SO THAT THEY CAN BE A SOURCE OF PRIDE FOR THE COUNTRY!

Daghan salamat, Mr. Speaker ug Maayong Hapon sa Tanan!

SOCIAL SERVICES REPORT OF ANAK MINDANAO PARTY LIST

  AS OF JULY 2009

In less than one year after the launching of the “Serbisyong Alay nAMIN” program of the Anak Mindanao party list under the office of Rep. Mujiv Hataman last October 18, 2008, Ms. Jasmin Teodoro, Program Coordinator released an accomplishment report of the services provided which included scholarship grants, medical assistance, livelihood and financial assistance, among others.

 Under the scholarship program, Anak Mindanao Party List has awarded Scholarship to nine hundred thirty students (930), with six hundred twenty nine (629) scholars presently enrolled with an active status in different Schools, Universities and TESDA- Accredited institutions all over the Philippines, particularly in Mindanao. Said scholarship grants awarded amounted to a total of 4.5 Million pesos.

ANAK MINDANAO also entered into Memorandums of Agreement with at least six (6) affiliated hospitals; Philippine Heart Center, National Kidney and Transpalnt Institute, Philippine General Hospital, Zamboanga City Medical Center, Cotabato General Hospital and Basilan General Hospital. Since the launch of the services program, at least 1,554 indigent patients have been served in the said health facilities

Still under the program, Rep. Hataman also allocated 2 Million pesos to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) NCR and REGION IX for financial, food, medical, burial, livelihood and other assistance to the Mindanao constituents. Breakdown and classification of assistance as follows: Under the 1 Million Fund for the year 2008: P254,000.00 worth of financial assistance to 252 beneficiaries; Relief goods to 800 families (1^st Batch); Relief goods to 430 families; (2^nd Batch). Under the 1 Million Fund for the year 2009: P186,000.00 worth of financial assistance to 184 beneficiaries; Relief goods to 650 families; and Livelihood assistance to 4 Tindahan Natin Outlets (Zamboanga City)  with P20,000.00 worth of initial capital each.

As of writing, Anak Mindanao, through the Serbisyong Alay nAMIN program is in the process of forging new Memorandums of Agreement with more institutions to facilitate the continuous provision of services and assistance to the people of Mindanao. 

SOCIAL SERVICES REPORT OF ANAK MINDANAO PARTY LIST

  AS OF JULY 2009

EDUCATION:

Anak Mindanao Party List has awarded Scholarship to nine hundred thirty students (930), out of them are six hundred twenty nine (629) SCHOLARS are presently enrolled with an active status in different Schools, Universities and Tesda Accreditation all over the Philippines, particularly in Mindanao funded with a total of  Php 4.5 Million.

Above Scholars are categorized as follows:

·                     Commission on Higher Education (CHED);

·                     TESDA;

·                     NCIP; and

·                     Others, if there are any

Breakdown of 626 Scholars:

1.                    CHED

·                     Mindanao State University, Iligan Istitute (MSU – IIT)

100 awarded

77 Active status

23 either transferred school / not able to maintain qualifying percentage grade / cannot be located

·                     Western Mindanao State University (Zamboanga City)

SY 2007 – 2008 100 awarded

                           63 Active status

                                                               16 graduated

                                                               21 either transferred school / not able to maintain            

                                                               Qualifying percentage grade / cannot be located

                                                SY 2008 – 2009 155 awarded

                                                                                    155 Active Status

·                     Ateneo de Zamboanga University (Zamboanga City)

30 awarded

27 Active Status

3 cannot be located

·                     Universidad de Zamboanga (Zamboanga City)

20 awarded

19 Active Status

1 cannot be located

                                *              Other Schools (Brent, Pilar College, Ebenezer Bible College,

                                                Zamboanga City Polytechnic College, Comtech, WMCC, Medina

                                                College, Ipil)

                                                20 awarded

                                                18 Active Status

                                                2 cannot be located

·                     Basilan State College (Basilan)

25 awarded

21 Active Status

2 graduated

2 cannot be located

·                     CLARET COLLEGE (Basilan)

4 awarded

4 AS

·                     Juan Alano Memorial (Basilan)

3 awarded

3 Active status

·                     Brent (Basilan)

3 awarded

3 Active Status

·                     NCIP

200 awarded

116 Active Status

37 CBL

22 not maintained

25 graduates

·                     Cotabato City

100 awarded

100 Active Status

·                     TESDA

170 awarded

86 Active Status

84 did not finish course

HEALTH:

ANAK MINDANAO has six (6) affiliated hospitals who catered to 1,554 patients   rendering medical assistance funded with a total of Php 5 Million, the following hospitals are:

1.                    Philippine Heart Center;

2.                    National Kidney and Transplant Institute;

3.                    Philippine General Hospital;

4.                    Zamboanga City Medical Center;

5.                    Cotabato General Hospital; and

6.                    Basilan General Hospital

Breakdown of patients accommodated by affiliated hospitals:

·                     Phillipine Heart Center

317 (February 2008 to June 2009)

·                     NKTI

132 (February 2008 to June 2009)

·                     PGH

276 (February 2008 to June 2009)

·                     Zamboanga City Medical Center

296 (February 2008 to June 2009)

·                     Cotabato General Hospital

336 (January 2008 to December 2008)

·                     Basilan General Hospital

197 (November 2008 to June 2009)

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WELFARE AND DEVELOPMENT:

Anak Mindanao has also allocated Php 2 Million to DSWD NCR and REGION IX for financial, food, medical, burial, livelihood and other assistance to its constituents. Breakdown and classification of assistance as follows:

Under 1 Million Fund for the year 2008

·                     Php 254,000.00 worth of financial assistance to 252 beneficiaries;

·                     Relief goods to 800 families; (1^st Batch)

·                     Relief goods to 430 families; (2^nd Batch)

Under 1 Million Fund for the year 2009

·                     Php 186,000.00 worth of financial assistance to 184 beneficiaries;

·                     Relief goods to 650 families; and

·                     Livelihood assistance of 4 Tindahan Natin Outlets (Zamboanga City)  with Php 20,000.00 worth of initial capital each