The overseas Filipino story is at times a story of despair, but always, it is one of hope. GMANews.TV looks back at the year that was, highlighting the triumphs and tribulations that often define the life of Filipino migrant workers as they toil in foreign lands, displaced from their home country, in the hopes of providing better lives for the loved ones they left behind. JANUARY Gov’t blunder shatters dreams of OFW mistaken for a fugitive Jason Aguilar had been working as a welder in Doha for a month when, a week after the year opened, he was seized by Qatar authorities on suspicion that he was the high-profile suspect the Philippines was tracking down in relation to the killing of the son of a palace official. Aguilar’s name, age, and even fingerprints may have been almost the same as the fugitive’s, but he was not Jason Aguilar Ivler, then the subject of a manhunt for the road-rage shooting of Renato Ebarle Jr., son of Presidential Chief of Staff Undersecretary Ebarle Sr. Ivler was arrested almost two weeks later, and Aguilar is now back with his family in Bulacan. But he is now uncertain about the brighter future he had wanted to give his family, after he was blacklisted from employment in Qatar and his visa cancelled. In a recent interview with GMANews.TV, however, he said he is still entertaining the idea of working overseas despite the trauma, as the prospects of landing a job in the Philippines remain bleak for him.
FEBRUARY Remains of Pinoy UN peacekeepers killed in Haiti quake brought home Filipino United Nations staff and a grocery worker were among the thousands of casualties in the magnitude-7 earthquake that devastated Haiti on January 12. The three Filipino peacekeepers from the UN who perished in the quake are Navy Data Processor 3 Pearly Panangui, Army Sgt. Eustacio Bermudez, and Air Force Sgt. Janice Arocena. Jerome Yap, a UN civilian staff, and Mary Grace Fabian, a Caribbean Supermarket worker, were also killed. Meanwhile, the remains of Geraldine Lalican, another OFW trapped in the rubble of the supermarket, have yet to be found.
MARCH No end in sight for OFW woes in Saudi firm as more workers plead for help The latter part of 2009 and the first quarter of 2010 saw more and more Filipino workers from the Saudi Arabian firm Annasban Group seeking help from the Philippine government. They complained about the company’s unfair labor practices such as reduced wage rates, prolonged work hours, and non-issuance of promised benefits. Earlier, some 40 repatriated female caregivers previously employed by Annasban staged a camp-out in front of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to pressure the government to pay their repatriation costs, which they had shouldered, and their unpaid salaries. The workers likewise demanded that Annasban be permanently barred from hiring OFWs, after it reportedly “detained" over 80 female workers who refused to work in protest of the harsh labor conditions they had to endure in the company.
APRIL OFW gets death in Saudi despite self-defense plea Joseph (not his real name), an OFW in Saudi Arabia, was sentenced to death for allegedly killing his Sudanese landlord in 2009. He maintained, however, that he accidentally killed the landlord in self-defense, as the latter allegedly beat him up when he refused to pay his rent which was not yet due. Joseph is just one of the over 200 Filipinos overseas facing the death penalty in various countries. Most of these prisoners were meted the capital punishment for acting as drug couriers, or “drug mules," who willingly carry illegal substances inside their baggage and even their bodies in exchange for money. In China alone, 70 Filipinos were sentenced to death for drug trafficking, five of whom were sentenced to death without reprieve.
MAY 24% of OAV ballots cast as election day closes Overseas Filipino groups believe the “migrant vote" has become a force to reckon with, following the passage of an overseas absentee voting (OAV) law in 2003. However, overseas voter turnout remains low at just over 20 % in this year’s presidential elections, even after the government automated the elections in Hong Kong and Singapore, which have large concentrations of Filipino workers. While this year posted a considerable increase from just 16% in 2007, this year’s OAV voter turnout is still a far cry from the record-high 65% registered in 2004, the first year that the OAV system was put in place.
Scolded for eating Pinoy way, Fil-Canadian boy wins case vs school Filipino-Canadian Luc Joachim Cagadoc, 11 years old, and his mother Maria Gallardo were awarded 17,000 Canadian dollars (over P750,000) in damages after winning the discrimination case they filed against the boy’s school in Quebec. The case stemmed from the reprimand that Luc suffered from his teacher for eating in the Filipino customary way, with fork and spoon.
JUNE DFA scored for delay in release of ePassports The electronic passport (ePassport) system, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) flagship project, drew criticism for the delayed release of ePassports even though the department had modernized its facilities. Several other issues have hounded the ePassport including allegations of corruption, the reported presence of fixers, in the multimillion-peso DFA facility in Parañaque City, and the 20% increase in passport rates. Despite these problems, the Philippines received commendation from the International Civil Aviation Authority for the ePassport project. The DFA has instituted reforms such as longer working hours and days for ePassport processing, and speed processing for OFW applicants, in response to the criticism.
JULY US order pullout of Filipino workers in Iraq The US government ordered its contractors in military installations in war-torn Iraq to pull out foreign workers from countries that have imposed a deployment ban in Iraq, including the Philippines. A month later, however, the Philippine government said OFWs already in Iraq and deployed in US military facilities may continue working there until they finish their contracts. Filipinos have been prohibited from working in Iraq since 2004 following a series of suicide bombing attacks and abduction of foreigners, including two Filipinos, as a result of the US-led war but many OFWS have defied the ban through the years.
2 Pinays brutally killed in Kuwait in separate incidents Two female OFWs were brutally murdered in Kuwait, one by her employer who tortured her to death, and the other stabbed at least 31 times by her Egyptian husband. The DFA had identified Kuwait as among the initial ten destination countries for OFWs (http://www.gmanews.tv/story/202796/kuwait-9-other-countries-safe-for-ofws-says-dfa) where the rights and welfare of migrant workers are protected.
AUGUST Another OFW in HK loses job after hostage crisis – DOLE Philippine authorities and some media institutions bore the brunt of the hostage crisis in Manila that left eight tourists from Hong Kong dead. But Filipino workers in the victims’ homeland also suffered to an extent, with at least two fired by their Chinese employers due to the incident. The Hong Kong daily South China Morning Post in an editorial sought to ease the reported resentment felt by Chinese nationals towards Filipinos, saying that venting their anger on Filipinos “smacks of racism."
SEPTEMBER P2B cut in DFA budget scored by OFW groups Various OFW groups have criticized the Aquino administration for the P1.7 billion cut in the DFA’s budget for 2011. This included a reduction for the legal assistance funds (LAF) for OFWs in distress from the mandated P100 million to a paltry P27 million allocation. The LAF is used to assist some 7,000 Filipinos languishing in various jails overseas, some 230 of whom are facing death sentences. Newborn baby found in airport garbage bag A newborn baby boy was found in a garbage bag unloaded from a Gulf Air plane that arrived in Manila from Bahrain. Subsequent investigation showed the baby was dumped in the plane’s trash bin by his mother, an OFW, who admitted to the crime and placed under the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation.
Pinay DH dies of acid burns, stab wounds in KSA – DFA Romelyn Ibañez, a Filipina domestic helper in Al-Khobar in Saudi Arabia, was found in the kitchen of her employer with stab wounds in her neck, abdomen and wrist, and acid burns in her mouth area, arms and legs. She died shortly after she was brought to the hospital as her internal organs were reportedly unable to sustain the acid ingestion. To date, the culprit has not been identified and arrested.
OCTOBER Migrant group slams HK labor exec for maltreating OFW The United Filipinos in Hong Kong and the Mission for Migrant Workers condemned Labor Attache Romulo Salud of the Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong for his alleged rude treatment of an OFW in distress. The OFW, Agnes Tenorio, reportedly sought help from the Consulate after her employment contract was terminated by her employer barely two hours after she arrived in Hong Kong. She went to Salud and asked for help to go back home, but upon learning from the two workers’ groups that she could file a complaint against her employer and seek payment for unpaid wages, she changed her mind and went back to Salud. She was reportedly scolded by Salud for changing her mind, a conversation that Tenorio recorded and was subsequently uploaded in the video-sharing site YouTube. The recording has registered almost 139,000 views since it was uploaded over two months ago. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has formed a fact-finding committee to look into the alleged abusive behavior of Salud, who has apologized for the incident, but two months later, the department has yet to release the results of its investigation.
NOVEMBER FilAm wins California SC chief post; others shine in US polls American jurist of Filipino descent Tani Cantil-Sakauye made history as the first Asian- American and the youngest jurist to hold the highest position in the California Supreme Court after garnering an overwhelming majority of votes in the US midterm elections. Several other candidates of Filipino descent also secured elective positions in various states across the US. Mandatory insurance imperils HK hiring of Pinoy helpers Following the Philippine government’s implementation of mandatory insurance coverage for overseas domestic workers, Hong Kong residents have reportedly canceled contracts for Filipino helpers to protest the new policy, which they say is unfair and redundant. Taiwan recruiters have followed suit, saying their labor laws already require insurance coverage for foreign workers, which they claim are superior to those mandated under Philippine law.
DECEMBER Somali pirates seize 1 ship with 7 Pinoys, release another vessel As of the latest count, there are 107 Filipinos aboard nine vessels being held captive by pirates, according to the DFA. The latest in the relentless string of piracy attacks was the capture of the MV EMS River, seized northeast of Oman with seven Filipino crew on board. Globally, the piracy scourge has affected 25 vessels and 587 hostages.
UAE eases sponsorship rules for expat workers Starting next year, foreign workers in the United Arab Emirates with an expired job contract no longer have to contend with the six-month ban and may obtain a new work permit and transfer to another employer without the consent of their previous sponsors. The sponsorship system, condemned by various groups as a form of “indentured servitude," is widely practiced in the Middle East. Bahrain was the first Arab state to abolish it in 2009, while Kuwait vowed to do the same in 2010.
- YA, GMANews.TV 
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