Call them “undocumented”, not “illegal”

The OFWs remitted to the Philippine economy no less that US 24 Billion last year, or more than a trillion pesos, almost equal to the national budget. They are primarily responsible for our country's emergence as the new jewel of financial and economic success in Asia. And so, let us be kind to our OFWs. Some of them do have problems with immigration laws. Let us call these Filipinos “undocumented”, not “illegal”.

DOLE and DFA officials, and embassy personnel, most specially labor attaches and welfare officers, should be gentle with OFWs who come to the host countries without work visas. Whether they have passports or visas or not, or expired documents, they should not be called illegal aliens in the host country. They are only undocumented. Anyone who calls them “illegal”, have already prejudged them and their cases without opportunity to be heard. And those who prejudge these unfortunate Filipinos have never known the pains they went through.

It is not a heinous crime to cross geographical borders or political boundaries to find a viable means of livelihood. To look for food for one's children can hardly be classified as a crime. It is just a lapse in immigration regulations. It does not cause loss of lives or properties. On the contrary, the purpose is to find sustenance for life and a means for living and for the acquisition of basic properties. Violations of immigration laws are not “mala per se”, not intrinsically evil acts. They are merely “mala prohibita”, or incidentally undesirable just because it is prohibited. At any rate, whether documented or not, these Filipinos abroad do bring home the bacon in billions, now trillion of remittances.

As of today, thousands of Filipinos are crossing the borders from Tawi-tawi to Sabah. Many of them have intermarried with Malaysians and Indonesians. Many have entered the USA and Canada and even into some European countries as tourists, then just disappear and take their chances, working all sorts of odd jobs. By amnesty or quick marriages, many of them have regularized their status, and even prosper. A good number have been naturalized and were elected or appointed to prominent and influential posts.

Unfortunately, however, there are hundreds, even thousands of them who are currently languishing in jails, some of them are very young children who were arrested with their entire families.

I have seen them with my own eyes and I cried many times seeing their pitiful conditions in jails. From 2005 to 2008, our Ambassador and I used to visit the immigration detention centers in Kota Kinabalu and witnessed the deportation of Filipinos every Friday in Sandakan. These people are not criminals and so we made representation with Malaysian authorities, not to handcuff them, especially the women and minors who are loaded into a ship every Friday to be brought to Zamboanga. The following Monday, they are back in Sandakan by small vinta and fishing boats. No power on earth can prevent the fish from jumping back into the sea. And so the cycle continues without end.

From 2008 to 2010, I have seen hundreds of domestic helpers in Kuwait detained by immigration authorities for failure of their employers to renew their work visas. Those who are being exploited to work as virtual slaves for 15 to 18 hours a day, especially during Ramadan, try to run away but when they are caught, they would be jailed like common criminals. This is so because breaking a two-year work contract is deemed a criminal offense and no bilateral labor agreement can prevent the host country's police authorities from enforcing their own laws.

Thus, no one among us have the right to call them “illegal”. Many of them have died, had been raped, maimed, diseased or imprisoned just to help their families, and, incidentally help our nation become what it is now. Let us help them and if we cannot, let us be gentle with how we call and treat them.