AS a longtime overseas Filipino workers (OFW) advocate, I have seen how a repatriated overseas worker feels overwhelmed by so many mixed emotions, of relief layered with grief, and of hope at the fringe of anxiety. The hallelujahs that come from finally being able to come home and reunite with the family can easily turn into a somber prayer for help because starting over is never easy.
I remember when my nongovernment organization, the Blas F. Ople Policy Center, had to provide temporary shelter to a rape victim from Kuwait. She was too scared to notify her husband of her arrival. It took her two months before finally gaining enough courage to go home to the province and reunite with her spouse and children. It was painful to watch her go through a recovery process, wanting to be home and yet not prepared to live up to her role as wife and mother.
Sometimes, when we go abroad as tourists, we experience the freedom to be more adventurous and open to new experiences. This is expected of tourists—to spend, to roam around, and to immerse one’s self in a strange yet wonderful culture. Eventually, the adventure ends and bags filled with souvenirs and gifts are packed for home. Not so, for a migrant worker. The usual contract is for a two-year job, sometimes even longer, in a multicultural environment where the pay is much more than what our own labor market offers, but with enormous challenges attached.
A Filipino working abroad as a domestic worker is the most vulnerable of them all. Even when her contract ends, her foreign employer can find vicious ways of making her stay—from veiled threats against her or her family to the withholding of salaries and benefits with a promise of release once her contract is renewed. Slavery is all about controlling someone’s life, until he or she loses even the will to live.
For the past few months, I have set out on a journey to look for potential partners that can help bring hope to the hearts of these repatriated distressed overseas workers. That journey led me to tap my closest and most trusted friends in the overseas employment sector, and they readily agreed to step up and deliver. We decided to establish CORE, which stands for the Center for OFW Reintegration and Empowerment. Non-profit in nature, CORE provides free counseling, job referrals and financial literacy seminars for returning OFWs. CORE and the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) will be helping our OFWs who are victims of human trafficking in their reintegration plans.
The youngest ship captain in Philippine history, Capt. Gaudencio “Jess” Morales, is CORE’s chairman. From his long years as a seafarer, Jess now owns his own manning agency, as well as several lucrative real-estate properties and other businesses. Jess also heads the Integrated Seafarers of the Philippines (ISP) that promotes entrepreneurship for seafarers.
Assisting Jess as CORE’s president is Loreto “Lito” Soriano, a former OFW turned successful entrepreneur. Lito owns LBS e-Recruitment and an information-technology solutions firm. While working in Saudi Arabia, he took on odd jobs including repairing swimming pools and cutting hair, trades that he just learned on his own, so he could save more money. He eventually returned home and was able to set up his own agency.
The other officers of CORE are equally impressive: Elsa Villa, who serves as vice president, ably heads the oldest recruitment industry association known as PASEI; Nora Braganza, heads JEPPCA, an industry association of recruiters accredited for Japan; Marc Capistrano heads Staffhouse International, one of the top international recruitment offices known for advocating ethical recruitment practices. We also have from the maritime sector, the very successful Capt. Danny Ricohermoso of Hagonoy, Bulacan, and businessman Eric Marquez. Edwina Beech, chairman of PASEI, is also passionate about reintegration especially for women. Engineer Nelson Ramirez, Pastor Jun Macas, NGO leaders Luther Calderon and Fe Nicodemus, as well as recruitment industry leader Raquel Bracero and CORE Board Secretary Ivan Lilles, round up the rest of the CORE officialdom.
Aside from CORE, we also have trusted and trustworthy allies on the OFW reintegration front, such as:
Junior Chamber International Manila represented by Roel “Owie” Gallardo, Reyes Haircutters led by its owner, Celestino “Les” Reyes and Training Director Alex Dungo, FindWork, a local employment online platform led by Liziel Cosgayon, OFW-turned entrepreneur Princess Rosario-San Diego with husband, Chino San Diego, represents the home-based franchise, “What’s Your Flan?,” the highly respected Villar SIPAG Foundation is also part of our network with Liza Zurbito as representative, and finally, the Tesda-accredited SETSI, a Marikina City training center headed by Ryan Ulysses Cruz.
The wonderful Ebb Hinckley and my good friend, Ernie Cecilia, of the American Chamber of Commerce are also very supportive of our cause and will soon be part of this growing network.
We all agreed to take our repatriated workers by the hand, and help them through livelihood training, local employment possibilities, job internships and financial literacy programs. We will be working closely with the Department of Justice-IACAT to help as many human-trafficking victims as we can.
The Blas F. Ople Policy Center is open to more partners. Join us, please. It is in giving that we discover how blessed we are. Write to me via toots.ople@yahoo.com. Let’s talk.
Susan V. Ople heads the Blas F. Ople Policy Center and Training Institute, a nonprofit organization that deals with labor and migration issues. She also represents the OFW sector in the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking.