On Aquino's US trip, Aquino, like Arroyo, will continue to peddle unprotected OFWs abroad

 

Press Release

20 September 2010

 

On Aquino’s US trip

Aquino, like Arroyo, will continue to peddle unprotected OFWs abroad -migrant group

 

Reacting on the first foreign trip of President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III in the US, an alliance of Filipino migrant rights group today said, like Arroyo, Aquino is likely to continue to peddle Overseas Filipino workers abroad without protection.

 

“P-Noy’s first trip abroad spells out a more intensified labor exportation program as it only re-affirms his economic programs based on the US government imposed neo-liberal policies of globalization such as liberalization, deregulation, and privatization that is pushing our people in dire poverty,” said John Leonard Monterona, Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator.

 

 Monterona said because of the RP government, past and present administrations’ blind adherence to neo-liberal policies of globalization, the socio-economic conditions of the Filipino masses becomes more deplorable.

 

“The Filipino masses –majority are workers and farmers, and even professionals, have no options left because the government is forcing them to find 3D (dirty, dangerous and dehumanizing) jobs abroad amid the scarcity of local jobs and rising cost of living and prices of basic goods and services,” Monterona added.

 

Monterona said that the labor export program is a conscious labor policy implemented by the Marcos regime when the country is pleading for foreign aid from IMF-WB and other foreign financial institutions and in order to ensure the in-flow of dollar reserves as a guarantee to foreign debt payments and more loans to in the future.

 

 “Thus, labor export program (read: peddling human labor) has now been institutionalized as a government’s ‘viable’ labor policy as part of the structural adjustment program, an imposition by the US-led IMF-WB and other foreign financial institutions,” Monterona added.

 

Monterona said since P-Noy’s US trip primary objective is to meet with US investors for his administration’s public-private partnership (PPP) projects, and witness the formal signing of a US$434-million compact grant agreement under the US government’s Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), and thereby hoping to avail financial assistance from MCA, then it is apparent that he would, like previous administrations, be willing to succumb to the wishes (read: impositions) of the US government.

 

“Adherence to neo-liberal policies of globalization (liberalization, deregulation, privatization) would lead to the intensification of labor export program by the government to ensure dollar reserves for debt payments, P-Noy therefore would continue to peddle unprotected OFWs abroad, who are sending billions of remittances yearly,” Monterona averred.

 

The Saudi-based OFW leader ended saying “The Filipino masses must expose and oppose the continued and blind adherence of the RP government on US neo-liberal policies of globalization, and must defend their socio-economic and political rights against the attacks of imperialists countries led by the US government. (end) # # #