Saudi recruiters' support for 'supermaid' policy won't end abuses on HSWs

MANILA, Philippines - The endorsement of the Arroyo government's so-called supermaid policy by Saudi Arabia's influential group of job recruiters does not guarantee elimination of abuses committed against Filipino workers, especially women domestic helpers, according to a migrants' group leader. John Leonard Monterona, regional coordinator of Migrante-Middle East, asserted in a press statement that the support thrown by Saudi National Recruitment Committee (Sanarcom) to the guidelines in the deployment of household service workers issued by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration in December 2006, would not put an end to cases of contract substitution, sexual abuse and other forms of mistreatment of Filipino workers. Monterona said the guidelines only add up to the financial woes of OFWs and does not guarantee their safety. The higher salary under the POEA policy in the deployment of domestic helpers, he said, "is hardly ever followed in the Middle East. Under the guidelines, the minimum monthly wage for domestic helpers was doubled from $200 to $400. "Cases of contract violations and substitutions are still rampant in the [United Arab] Emirates despite the signed employment agreement between the two governments," Monterona cited. While Migrante-ME acknowledges the fact that the policy exempts HSWs from paying placement fees, they still receive reports that some aspiring workers bound for UAE, Kuwait , Bahrain and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) were forced to shell out P5,000 to P10,000 to undergo skills training. The supermaid policy, launched two years ago, was the brainchild of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in an effort to upgrade the skills of domestic helpers at the wake of the Lebanon-Israel conflict which caused the death of two OFWs. Under the policy, Filipino maids are re-classified as HSWs and are required to undergo language proficiency test and skills training and assessment under the government-run Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, respectively. "This training requirement is again a scheme to generate more revenues from HSWs and aspiring alike," Monterona said. Labor Secretary Arturo Brion on Wednesday boasted that Sanarcom expressed support for the government's policy in deploying domestic workers in other countries, particularly in the Middle East. Brion considered Sanarcom's support as a major breakthrough in the country's efforts to promote the HSW policy and ensure the welfare of Filipino HSWs in the Gulf region. Monterona however explained that there is a loophole in the training program offered by Tesda which can burn a hole in the OFWs' pockets. "Tesda's accredited training centers secretly operating as recruitment agents for aspiring HSWs are asking applicant-trainee a fee up to P45,000 each promising aspiring HSWs a passing grade in the skills assessment," said Monterona. "If an aspiring HSW failed thrice in the said skills assessment she will be required to undergo training again," he added. Monterona also scored President Arroyo for allegedly advocating more measures to milk money out of OFWs under the cover of protection and welfare. "We are not here abroad harvesting in a mine of gold," said Monterona. In 2006, University of the Philippines professor Danilo Arao said that the 'supermaid' policy only further institutionalizes the outflow of Filipino workers. "The government's decision to continue OFW deployment, even if on a selective basis, and to deploy "supermaids" in the future reinforces the institutionalization of labor migration which runs contrary to the claim of the late President Ferdinand Marcos in the 1970s," Arao explained. "At that time, Marcos stressed that labor migration is just a temporary arrangement until such time that the domestic economy can generate the necessary jobs for Filipinos," he added. - Mark Joseph Ubalde, GMANews.TV