EDITORIAL – Undoing the damage

In Hong Kong Filipinos have expressed concern that they could face discrimination in employment opportunities due to the SARS threat. Two of the confirmed SARS fatalities in the Special Administrative Region were Filipinos. Such concerns are spreading as Taiwan and several countries in the Middle East banned yesterday the hiring of new workers from the Philippines amid the SARS scare. At the same time, Japan and Singapore issued advisories against non-essential travel to the Philippines. The ban, which could remain until a vaccine or cure is found for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, will affect thousands of Filipinos applying for jobs in Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya and the United Arab Emirates.

Why the ban and travel advisories? The SARS problem is worse in Singapore and Taiwan than in the Phi-lippines. Because of the rapid increase in SARS cases in Taiwan, the World Health Organization issued a travel warning on Taipei yesterday. At the same time, the WHO issued an official statement yesterday saying that the SARS threat is "negligible" in the Philippines.

Unlike China, the Philippines has tried its best to be as transparent as possible about the SARS problem, even if it means scaring away tourists from certain destinations this summer, the peak travel season. Filipinos have cheerfully admitted that handling of the SARS problem in this country sometimes borders on paranoia, but a bit of public hysteria in the time of SARS can save lives. This message must be sent to jittery nations that host Filipino workers.

The damage to our overseas workers may be hard to undo quickly, considering the global scare over a disease that still has no vaccine or cure. Yet we can’t afford to just sit back and wait for our fortunes to change. The Philippines’ diplomatic personnel must work double time to have those employment bans withdrawn and the travel advisories at least clarified.

Equally important, Philippine diplomatic personnel must exert every effort to prevent discrimination against Filipinos already working in the countries that imposed a ban or issued the travel advisories. The Department of Health has worked closely with the WHO since the start of the SARS outbreak, and the world health body can be enlisted in allaying fears of the international community about the SARS situation in this country.