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MANILA, Philippines -- As the European Union prepares to enforce tougher rules against illegal migrants, Senate President Pro Tempore Jose "Jinggoy" Estrada and Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. issued separate appeals for reconsideration of the measures seen to affect some 94,000 Filipinos in Europe.
Estrada said the Departments of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and of Labor and Employment (DoLE) should convey the appeal to the EU and request that a "regularization scheme" be implemented instead.
The measure, recently passed by the EU parliament on first reading and scheduled for enforcement 24 months from the rule's final adoption, details the procedures for detention, deportation and banning of violators, including children.
"Our government, through the DFA and DoLE, still has at least 24 months to come up with a solution to this predicament affecting Filipino migrant workers. In those 24 months, it should aggressively exert all efforts to assist our kababayan [countrymen]. Specifically, it should push for the regularization by Europe of these undocumented Filipino workers," Estrada said.
He said the "regularization" of the irregular Filipinos in Europe is the best tack the Philippine government can take because it will not be able to absorb deported workers into the local labor force or look after those who detained in European jails.
"We are not condoning the act by some of our kababayan who, because of dire need of decent-paying jobs which our country has not been able to provide, enter and stay as undocumented workers in the EU or in any other foreign country. However, our government must not just allow them to be detained there," the senator said.
"We cannot afford a situation where thousands of Filipinos will be detained in a foreign country. Actually, we also cannot immediately provide alternative jobs to that huge number of people that would be forced to return to our country," he added.
On the other hand, Pimentel urged all industrialized countries, including those in Europe, to liberalize the entry of workers from developing countries like the Philippines. He said this would make up for the imbalance in the flow of goods that heavily favors developed countries in this era of free trade.
In theory, he explained, free trade as advocated by the World Trade Organization (WTO) allows developing countries to have reciprocal trading rights. But the reality, he said, is that poorer countries do not have the capacity to produce and export as much as they want to balance trade between themselves and the developed world.
"This is not a one-sided deal. It will enable our workers to earn more money to send back home so that their families can buy the goods that the developed world produces," Pimentel said.
He also argued that his proposal of providing jobs to workers from developing countries will alleviate poverty which, in turn, will ease social discontent and reduce, if not eliminate, the threat of terrorism.
Pimentel said WTO rules, particularly import liberalization, have resulted in company shutdowns or closures, production cutbacks, and the mass retrenchment of the workforce. He cited as examples the country's textile and tire industries.
Due to a scarcity of jobs, about 3,000 Filipino workers leave the country every day to seek employment.
While acknowledging that workers from developed countries would naturally be wary of his proposal, Pimentel suggested that a system be developed so the entry of workers from developing countries is calibrated.
"After all, most the developed countries of the world are experiencing a decline of their workforces due to their low birth rates. They need replacements for their workforce to keep their production capacities competitive. And we need work for our mass of jobless workers," Pimentel said.
The EU is in the process of finalizing a general migration policy that will include tougher rules on irregular migrants (those working in Europe without proper documents) and more liberal rules for regular migrants, who will be issued so-called Blue Cards that will allow them and their family to stay in the continent for long periods of time.
Based on DFA records, there are at least 189,023 Filipinos who are permanent residents in Europe as of June 2007, 135,493 are temporary residents, and 94,113 are undocumented.
