US think tank endorses RP's OWWA program

A think tank for the phenomenon of international migration has endorsed the Philippine welfare program for migrant workers as a guide for policymakers in other countries. A recent study of the US-based Migration Policy Institute (MPI) shows that labor-sending countries can play a major role in protecting migrant workers, citing the accomplishments and limitations of the Philippine Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA). The study done by Dovelyn Agunias of MPI and Neil Ruiz of Brookings Institution entitled, "Protecting Overseas Workers: Lessons and Cautions From the Philippines," evaluates the management OWWA and draws insights from its practice. The study analyzed the details of the welfare fund from migrant workers and the safety nets in place for the welfare of member-overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). The Philippines has the largest organized labor-export program in the world, where over eight million or almost nine percent of the population lives in more than 190 countries. OFWs sent $12.8 billion in 2006, which could reach the $15-billion mark in 2007, the report said. The OWWA, a semi-governmental organization funded by the $25 membership fees from migrant workers, is a program to protect and provide services to migrant workers. As of May 2007, OWWA had over one million members, representing 28 percent of the estimated 3.8 million Filipinos legally working abroad on temporary contracts. The core services that OWWA provides include repatriation in case of maltreatment, illness, or war, including returning to the Philippines the bodies of workers who die while abroad. The program was able to repatriate 10,834 Filipinos in 2006, most of them escaping the crisis in Lebanon. The program also provides health and life insurance and legal assistance for work-related disputes. OWWA’s secondary services include scholarships and training, as well as loans for migrants and their families – although the loan program has suffered slow repayment rates. Finances The study however noted that OWWA is struggling to maintain financial stability. Its officials have said that the fund grew nearly fourfold in 11 years, from 2.2 billion pesos ($44 million) in 1995 to 8.6 billion pesos ($172 million) in 2005, with 2006 assets of more than twice the annual budget of the Department of Labor and Employment, its parent agency. In the last five years, the income averaged 1.9 billion pesos ($38 million) a year. The MPI study cited that OWWA spent only three percent of its fund balance in 2005, the last year for which audited financial reports were available. OWWA’s fund administrators are inclined to maintain large savings so that interest payments from investments could support the program while maintaining the 10 billion peso ($200 million) for mass repatriation in case of emergency. From 2002 to 2006, over half of the P865 million annual average expenses were used for operations. Some 600,000 members (62 percent) of over a million members received various kinds of assistance or services through operation centers in 2006, the report said. Limitations Amid the relative success of OWWA programs, the authors of the report see the need for transparency and accountability, particularly in funding decisions that lead to questions on mismanagement. The authors cited a Philippine Commission on Audit report (1999 to 2005) showing unrecoverable millions of pesos or “doubtful" accounts, including a P479 million ($9.6 million) investment in a housing project that defaulted, making recovery of the funds “uncertain." To strengthen accountability, the study has recommended increasing the number of migrant representatives appointed to the OWWA board, holding periodic consultation of migrant workers on pressing needs, and establishing a system for evaluating program performance. The study also highlighted partnerships with other organizations as key for the relative success of OWWA. It also raised the need for complementary protection mechanisms for migrant workers in destination countries. Based in Washington, DC, the MPI is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank dedicated to the study of the movement of people worldwide. It provides analysis, development, and evaluation of migration and refugee policies at the local, national, and international levels. It aims to meet the rising demand for pragmatic and thoughtful responses to the challenges and opportunities that large-scale migration, whether voluntary or forced, presents to communities and institutions in an increasingly integrated world. - Luis Gorgonio, GMANews.TV