Group wants gov’t to stop labor export

CEBU, Philippines - The militant labor party, the Partido ng Manggagawa-Cebu, is calling on the government to stop promoting labor export and start developing domestic industry to provide local jobs.

PM Cebu spokesperson Dennis Derige said that what is now happening in Taiwan and Egypt, which banned Overseas Filipino Workers, should serve  as a wakeup call for the government.

The group also criticized Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for giving “false hopes” of reintegration to the thousands of affected OFW’s.

Derige said that if the government’s reintegration program is effective, then how come more than 3,000 Filipinos daily choose to leave their families for the promise and perils of working abroad?

He said that a decent reintegration scheme is an initial step but the strategic goal is domestic employment for millions of Filipinos.

He added that  the country needs an industrial policy that reverses the model of liberalization, deregulation and privatization.

“The growth of domestic manufacturing and local agriculture must be led by the state since the private sector has historically defaulted on the challenge. An inclusive growth strategy must be anchored on an industrial policy and the domestic economy,” said Derige in a statement.

 Earlier, PM asked the Taiwan government to immediately lift the ban on OFW’s as it averred that Filipino migrant workers should not be held hostage to the on going row with the Philippine government amidst the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman.

Derige said that thousands of OFWs are becoming jobless because of the continued freeze hiring policy of Taiwan, that still means thousands of workers and their families losing their means of livelihood. — (FREEMAN)