The Philippines government has come under more pressure to stop sending domestic workers abroad, with a prominent columnist arguing they should be retrained to fill gaps in professional skills at home.
Leandro DD Coronel said in a commentary carried by the Manila Bulletin that most Filipinos employed as domestic workers overseas were university graduates before they left the country.
“How many Filipino teachers, nurses, and other skilled workers are forced to downgrade their skills and degrade their persons by working as service people, a deodorized term for maids and servants?” he asked.
Acknowledging that most Filipinos seek employment abroad because of a lack of job opportunities and low salaries in the Philippines, Coronel called on the government to expand job training through the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority so that skill levels were on a par with or even superior to those available elsewhere.
“So no more dreams of deploying ‘super maids’ to other countries. We either create more jobs here or help working-age Filipinos to acquire skills that are in demand abroad,” he said.
The columnist urged President Rodrigo Duterte and his government to focus on improving people’s livelihoods instead of being preoccupied with an ‘unwinnable’ war on drugs that was falsely seen as his country’s priority problem.
“It isn’t, it’s poverty. Poverty, as every OFW [overseas foreign worker] knows, is what drives them to seek employment abroad even though the work conditions there are abominable. People are poor because there aren’t enough jobs for everybody,” he said.
PRRD is a president who has the vision to get our country out of poverty. Drugs is a menace that has to be addressed too as well as vs corruption. Until all his programs are implemented, our OFW deployment is unavoidable and this helped our country stay afloat despite the financial crisis. The past president, except marcos, were all talk and no work, so your suggestion is just a reflection of those failures in past administrations. Btw, it’s only PRRD who had done something to protect these OFWs, our heroes. I would suggest that you instead should help by exposing the evils of the past administration to silence them, just like trillanes, hindrances toward our country’s development, cause they are not doing anything good other than to prwvent our country to get out from all the ills of our society….
Advance sill’s and training to be equal or above those of developed countries.Grade 12 must be implimented asap.Foreign student exchange work’s very well
Ano kamu? Help working-age Filipinos to acquire skills that are in demand abroad?! IS there something wrong with you? I maybe wrong with my interpretation as to what youre barking about….kaya nagkalokoloko ang pinas e….
True. The war should be on poverty and not drugs. While the drug problem persists, we need to focus to win a war against poverty. The priority should be shifted in eradicating the poverty in the nation.
Hoy panahon ni Apo Lakay ayaw niya ng OFW ayaw niya na magtrabaho ang nga pinoy pinay pero hindi natupad kasi hindi PUMAYAG Ang DIOS na pigilin ni Apo Lakay na mag work sa ibang bansa ang ang mga Filipino saoagkat may hula ang AMA sa IGLESIA NI CRISTO
Jon Velbis If you are living in an exclusive subdivision, well and good! If like us who lives in a squatters area our lives are in constant exposure to danger when this drug menace is not solved. Burglary, holdup, prostitution. Children selling household items for drugs from power tools to kitchen ware. Husbands pimping their wives so they could have a shot. Women as young as 14 having STDs.
Jon Velbis how many percentage of the drug dependents do you think belongs to the rich compared to the poor. Let us say 50/50. The thing is the rich has the source of income to sustain their vice while the poor has to forego several meals for a shot of shabu. You say that poverty is the root of all the problems yet many poor people are into the vice. Most do smoke, drink and gamble. I know because I see the situation everyday.
Walang may gusto na may adik sa paligid natin pero tama ba ang way para mawala ang mga adik sa pilipinas? May programa ba ang presidente para mawala ang droga sa bansa kung ang war on drugs ang sasabihin nyong solution at sasabihin nyong war on drugs ang programa ng pangulo para mawala ang mga adik ang masasabi ko tama nmn na magkaroon ng war on drugs pero mali ang pagpapatupad at walang programa ang gobyerno para sa mga apektado ng war on drugs.. Baka sasabihin nyo na ako n lang maging presidente at magaling nmn ako. Kung pwedi nga lang ba bkit hindi. Ngayon sasabihin nyo anong nagawa ko para sa bansa,,? Maging mabuti ka lng n mamamayan malaki n ang nagawa mo sa bansa. Sasabihin nyo rin na bakit d na lang ako sumoporta at mg suggest para sa ikakabuti ng bansa. Yan ang laging sabihin nyo d b, ok ito suggestion ko sana ehh iparating nating lahat sa pangulo na yong war on drugs mali ang pagpapatupad kc puro lang small time ang pinapatay ng mga pulis at kung meron mang bigtime mga kalaban lang sa politika ng pangulo ang itinutumba Napakarami ng pangalan sa listahan ng pangulo na mga matataas n position sa kapulisan politiko at sundalo pero ilan na ba ang mga nahuli at nasentensyahan. Sa pag kakaalam ko may 2 ng napatay n malaking pangalan na kwestyonable pa ang pagkakapatay. Ngayon kung talagang seryoso ang pangulo na matuldokan ang paglaganap ng droga sa pilipinas unahin nya ang mga Drug lord para wala ng mag susuply ng droga sa bansa. At dapat gumawa ang pangulo ng programa para sa mga nauulila dahil sa war on drugs. Bawat isang napapatay na adik at pusher may mga buhay na nauulila. Saan patungo ang buhay nila kung mawawala n ang sumosuporta sa kanila? Magiging kriminal na rin at magiging adik, ilan ang papalit sa bawat isang mapapatay n adik at pusher? Kung walang programa ang gobyerno para sa mga naulila pag dating ng limang taon triple ang pweding maging kapalit ng bawat isang mapapatay sa war on drugs. Kaya iparating natin sa pangulo na ang suggestion ko ay magawa ng pamunoan nya. Maraming salamat…
The brain drain started many years ago, not during the time of DUTERTE gov’t. You are talking as if you don’t know when it did started. Before the new administration can create good jobs for Pilipinos, the corrupt, drugs and criminals must be clean up or minimize first. How you can attract investors if our country is run by corrupt, drug lords and criminals
Jon Velbis parang nanaginip ka ,dito sa amin tuloy nalinis dahil kay pangulo ,naalis ang mga anay na sumira sa lungsod namin ano ba talaga ang gusto ng mga dilawan ? daming drug addict Addict ka ba?
Tama ka nagumpisa sa corruption. Una c marcos at imelda, pangalawa c gloria macapagal arroyo kasama c mike arroyo, ung sec of agriculture nya na c bolante, pangatlo c binay at anak nyang c junjun at pang apat c erap. Itong mga personalidad na ito ang umubos sa kaban ng bayan ng pinas. Peste sila.