OFWs in Thailand suffer from unemployment, underemployment due to the pandemic

Overseas Filipino Workers in Thailand have been suffering from unemployment and underemployment due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

In an episode of Reel Time Online, we learn of Grace, who was forced to work as a house helper due to the pandemic after working as a singer for 12 years. 

According to Grace, her salary as a singer reaches almost P50,000 a month. But with establishments closed due to the COVID-19 situation, Grace now earns a little more than P1,000 a day, as a nanny.

"Kalagayan namin ngayon, kung ihahambing mo roon sa katauyan mo dati na that time kailangan maganda yung damit mo dahil singer ka.  This time, ibang-iba e. Ibang iba," she said.

Grace narrated that she would sometimes cry and feel self-pity.

"Umiyak ng umiyak sa toilet talaga. Kunwari naghihilamos ako ng mukha para lang hindi mapansin 'pag lumabas ako," she shared.

Grace said she couldn't stop working because she has two grandchildren back in the Philippines who are dependent on her.

"Kaya ganon ang pagpupursigi ko kahit mag-katulong ako okay lang," she narrated.

"Ang sakit-sakit ngayon, wala kaming maipdala. Then mami-miss mo yung mga bata," she said. " Mga apo ko ang nagpapalakas sakin."

Grace said all OFWs in Thailand whether professionals or not are suffering from the effects of the pandemic.

"Makikita mo yung mga tao dito na mataas yung pinag-aralan, pero pantay-pantay kami ngayon," she said.

Meanwhile, a teacher in Sukhothai, Thailand temporarily lost his job due to the suspension of classes.

Luckily, some of his students from Malaysia, France, and Thailand who are already graduates, have paid to hold online English classes with him.

Bryan has a 4-year-old child son in the Philippines and he said he wishes he could be the one to teach him. It saddens him that he couldn't go home.

"Gusto ko ako, yung magturo sa kanya pero ang sakit lang sa feeling na di ko magawa dahil 'di ako nakauwi," he said.

Grace and Bryan are only two of the 12,000 OFW teachers and musicians in Thailand, who lost their jobs due to the effects of the pandemic.

According to Grace, there are no POLO (Philippine Overseas Labor Office) or OWWA (Overseas Workers Welfare Administration) in Thailand. She adds, it's difficult to ask help from the Philippine Embassy in Thailand.

"I hope 'di sila masaktan sa sinabi ko pero napakahirap pong lapitan ang embassy dito," she said.

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs however, Grace's brother, Jefferson Liwanag, was assisted and repatriated by the Department through the Embassy as early as April. He was among the passengers of the first repatriation flight from Thailand on April 24, 2020, in fact.

Jefferson, according to the DFA, availed himself of the DFA-funded repatriation flight by using the Google Form for repatriation. He was not required to visit the Embassy and risk getting infected by COVID-19 by leaving his home during lockdown in Thailand.   

There is no POLO in Thailand, but the Embassy has activated three hotlines to assist Filipinos living there. It's also turned to POLO in Malaysia, which that has assisted Filipinos in Thailand with the DOLE-AKAP financial assistance program. 

Despite the struggles, a group of Filipinos in Thailand called the UFT or United Filipinos in Thailand have been sending relief to Filipinos in the country.

"The main purpose of this organization is to help our Filipino constituents here in Bangkok," UFT President Bing Macatangay-Arias said.

"We give them 5 kilos of rice, one pack of noodles, may cooking oil, monggo, sardines and fresh egg. So basically yung mga basic needs ng kakainin nila," she added.

The report said UFT had already sent their help to over 8,000 OFWs in Thailand.

Reel Time has already reached out to Philippine Embassy Thailand to ask for their side on the matter but they said to contact POLO Malaysia instead.

Reel Time has already contacted POLO Malaysia, OWWA and DOLE in the Philippines with POLO Malaysia recently announcing that they will stop the financial assistance for OFWs in Thailand.

For those who would want to help:

Kasikorn Bank (SA)
Maria Isabel Macatangay Arias
0601952149
paypalme./MariaIsabelArias 

The report said 376 Filipinos were repatriated from Thailand.

On Sunday, Senator Joel Villanueva called on the government to "further intensify" and expand the implementation of reintegration programs for OFWs who find themselves back in the Philippines due to the COVID-19 crisis.

In a statement, Villanueva said skills training provided by TESDA and other interventions must be given to OFWs to “become more employable or to seek a new venture through entrepreneurship.” — Jannielyn Ann Bigtas/LA, GMA News