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INTRODUCTION

“Human Rights Violations being faced by the Overseas Filipino


Workers (OFWs) in the Province of Cagayan Valley”

At the beginning when the Lord has created Adam and Eve, a world
of paradise was granted to them however with the inducement of the Evil
spirit who took the form of a snake, they were tempted to eat the forbidden
fruit where they began to realize that they were naked and all forms of
humanity has taken over and it is where they started to savor their miserable
lives- the quest of mankind begun.

Our lives here on Earth is a test of fate, courage, determination and


perseverance. If we could only turn back time to always have that paradise
that was first granted to us by our Creator yet we must face reality, that the
world that we have now requires us to work for everything that we need in
order to hurdle the challenges of our everyday living.

Maybe, it is just one of the million reasons why most of our brethren
considered working abroad to look for a greener pasture without out
knowing what kind of life that they are about to face outside the country as
long as they can lift the economic status of their families back home, here in
the Philippines.

The researchers opted to document the Human Rights Violations


being faced by the Migrant Workers in the Cagayan Province, in order to
study the present status of these group of workers since they are the most
vulnerable to abuses and often neglected by the society. It is very alarming
that despite of the many graduates that we produce each year, most of them
are still currently jobless thus working abroad becomes the best solution
even if it does not fit to their scholastic degrees.

The sad reality oftentimes knocks the doors of our fellow Filipinos
and they always consider that the key to success lies outside the portals of
the Philippines. Through this study you will be able to grasp the most recent
chronicles of the Filipino Migrant Workers here in the Cagayan Province
alongside the type of service that the government provides to this said group
of individuals.

Major tools like interviews, statistics and related studies have also
taken the role to establish the reliable data that the researchers were able to
collect and generate. This research will not be possible without the support
of their teacher in Human Rights Law- Judge Mira Minda Callangan who
have flourished to the researchers the technical know- how especially in
addressing the human rights violations being faced by the subject of this
study.

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As Sophomore Law Students, it is very vital for the researchers that at
this early stage they will be exposed to this kind of abuses in order for them
to appreciate the Law and Legal remedies that can be served especially to
the needy, the poor and the hopeless. With this kind of research, it will be a
show window that we need to act now and be able to contribute in our
simple ways, data generated through this study will not just be numbers nor
only documentations, it’s even beyond that- it’s a calling to be of service to
the victims of these kind of abuses.

The study focused on the different kinds of human rights violations


that is being encountered by the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) abroad
who hails from the Province of Cagayan Valley. The researchers opted to
concentrate only in the Cagayan Valley inorder for them to gather more
accessible information within the area of Tuguegarao City and come up with
a more reliable data that can identify the current violations at the same time
providing its possible solutions.

Further, the ability of the researchers to understand the present study


is also very vital and since one of the researchers is also a former Migrant
worker she can also share a part of her experiences working abroad. Thus,
relating to the plight of our fellow Filipinos who works overseas becomes
the avenue of this study to connect the dots leading to the finality of this
research.

Abstract:

Hearing directly from the people who makes the efforts to aid and
provide genuine care to this vulnerable group of OFW helped greatly the
researchers to establish the information needed for this kind of study. From
there they were able to address the reasons behind why they chose to leave
their families here in the Philippines and why they are experiencing human
rights violations in their workplace abroad. The choices to elevate the
economic status of their families have greatly influenced them without
proper orientation and mindset which led the majority to unsuccessful
working conditions.

Contract violations and substitutions contributed much why a lot of


them are experiencing such; despite the government’s assistance they do not
have control over those unregistered migrant workers or victims of illegal
recruiters. Data were also derived from the Office of the Overseas Workers
Welfare Administration (OWWA) showing the statistics from the Province
of Cagayan Valley (As of February 15, 2017) that there are:

Land Based Sea Based Not Stated Grand Total


102,232 5,856 241 108,329

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Table. 1 Statistics1

Out of the Three Hundred Five Thousand and Two Hundred Thirty-
Five (305,235) Region II overseas workers One Hundred Eight Thousand
and Three Hundred Twenty- Nine (108, 329) comes from the Province of the
Cagayan or an estimated of 35.49 percent of the regionwide population.

In addition, Nine Hundred Sixty- One (961) reported cases were also
gathered by the researchers from the Welfare Cases of the Regional
Operations Coordination Service of OWWA covering the period of October
01-31, 2017. (see attached documents).2 From there we can derive that an
estimated 0.88 percent of overseas workers from Cagayan suffers different
kinds of human rights violations monthly or raptly Eleven Thousand and
Five Hundred Thirty- two (11,532) reported cases only both in land and sea
based are being handled by the office of the OWWA annually.

Yet, it’s very alarming since this data speaks only for registered
migrant workers setting aside the possible numerical data of unreported
cases being experienced by the victims of illegal recruiters. Doubling the
statistics is possible for human rights violations abroad for the Province of
Cagayan Valley alone.

Method:

The data gathering tools that were used in this research is the conduct
of Interviews and giving of questionnaires. Considering that this kind of
abuses must be treated with utmost confidentiality, the researchers decided
to interview proper resource persons and other migrant workers from
Cagayan Province who can relate also to the subject of this study.

The researchers sent a letter to the Head of the OWWA in this region
since their office can provide possible data as to the statistics of human
rights violations and answer the questionnaire being prepared by the
researchers. Hence, the Officer-In-Charge of OWWA Region II in the
person of Ms. Pilipina C. Dino glady entertained and answered the queries
given by the partner researchers. This was held last November 2017 at #13
Dalan na Pavvulurun, Regional Government Center, Carig Sur, Tuguegarao
City.

Another set of interview was made before the OFW Federation


President in Region 2 Mr. Elizardo G. Narag held last November 22, 2017 at
Ugac Sur Tuguegarao City. Narrating to the researchers his own stories
abroad especially how it feels working in an Arab country for more than a
decade.

1 http://www.census.gov.ph/content/total-number-ofws-estimated-22-million-results-2012-survey-overseas-filipinos
(removed from active link since it had downtimes)

2 Regional Welfare Office 02 SUMMARY OF WELFARE CASES REPORT

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Moreover, the researchers acquainted also with other migrant workers
through the use of social media and from there more conclusive information
was established relating to the series of interviews that were also conducted
to the above mentioned personalities.

Findings:

Consequently, the poor economic condition and very high


unemployment rate in the country have led the majority of the Filipinos to
work overseas. Evidently, they are contributing a lot to the economy of the
Philippines through their money remittances. However, looking at the
horizons we can observe that a larger population of these migrant workers
comes from the marginalized sectors of the country and most of them are the
Filipina women who opted to work as domestic helpers since it takes skills
for male migrant workers to be admitted for work abroad.

The researchers considered the following reasons why do Filipinos


work overseas:

1. Financial and economic reasons- the cost of living in the Philippines is


getting higher each year leaving no increase for salary especially for those
working under the blue collared jobs thus the quest to elevate the status of
their families and be able to provide good education to their children
influences one in every Filipino family to go abroad.

2. Poor marital condition- you can observe that most of the OFW are
females. The reason behind is they do not see the figure of a responsible and
loving husband. Where the only option left is for them to work abroad and
escape from the quality of life they have in the Philippines.

During the conduct of the interviews most of the women opted to


leave their families since it’s easier for them to work as domestic helpers,
factory workers and Caregivers.

3. Higher compensation abroad- good compensation and benefits attracts a


lot of Filipinos at present to work overseas compared to the lower
compensation rate in the Philippines. Since even unskilled workers are
compensated above from the average rate here in the Philippines.

4. Technology Aid- nowadays with the advent of technology, one can


access immediately his families even in abroad thus most of the Filipinos
prefers to work there since they can still maintain good communication to
their families back home.

5. Better services and aids from the Philippine government- compared


before we observe that our government has improved its assistance to our
fellow Filipinos working abroad, since Embassies and Philippine Overseas

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Labor Office are well established and other modes of linkages were already
established to aid even those victims of illegal recruitment.

The government creates different activities, workshops and Programs


to aid the needs of the OFW.

6. Permanent residency/ Citizenship - we have heard a lot of successful


stories of those Filipino families who already migrated. Thus, starting for
one member of the family working in abroad they can slowly petition their
other family members to be with them there permanently.

The researchers considered the following impact to the families of OFW:

1. Psychosocial Problems- this is the perennial problem being experienced


by the children of the OFWs, you can observe this during the workshops giv
en to them if you let them draw it will clearly show that they still want the pr
esence of their parents and their family to be complete here in the Philippine
s. They do not appreciate the sacrifices of their parent/s and material things c
annot replace the importance of having their mother or father with them.
This is harder for families wherein it is the mother who will work abroad
. During the rearing stage of a child a mother figure is very important. Somet
imes, when the parent will go home they will tell them to go back abroad jus
t to provide their needs since they become used to have what they want.
2. Non remittance of OFWs to their families- when the OFW already foun
d a lover abroad they tend to forget their families here in the Philippines. Ho
wever, this is also possible for an abuse of the employer wherein he does not
properly compensate the Filipino worker.
3. The family left here in the Philippines is not well oriented on the possi
ble results of a parent working abroad- once an OFW should work abroad
, the family should be involved especially in the emotional and psychologica
l state of mind. The spouse should prepare himself to the condition of his par
tner and the children’s condition should be included in the picture.
We are glad that the OWWA includes this is in their services, the family sho
uld really be involved in the conditioning and preparation for the departure o
f the OFW in order to minimize the possible disagreements and misundersta
nding within the family.

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