A University of Southern California study revealed that government information-technology platforms have failed to curb trafficking and illegal recruitment, as well as deliver emergency response to distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
According to the research report titled “Technology and Labor Trafficking in a Network Society,” the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), for one, “is unable to monitor all postings on job-forum web sites, thus leaving much of the responsibility for verifying the legitimacy of various recruitment agencies to the job seeker.”
Citing respondents among nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and trafficking survivors, the research said “job seekers and OFWs are more inclined to trust the opinions of those posting on these job forums and Facebook than the official policies of the POEA.”
“There is a sense of legitimacy if it comes through Facebook—it is all about presentation. [Filipinos] won’t contact the POEA to see if the company is legitimate,” the report said quoting an interviewee.
Citing 2014 data from Digital Strategy Consulting, the report noted that over 75 percent of Internet users in the Philippines are under the age of 34, while 98 percent of Internet users have a social-media account—97 percent have a Facebook account and 81 percent have a Twitter account.
Filipinos spend, on average, four hours a day on social-media sites—the highest usage in Asia—followed closely by Thailand with 3.7 hours a day, the report said.
Approximately 62 percent of mobile users access social-media applications (apps) on their phone.
Nonetheless, short-message sending is still the dominant form of communication via mobile phones and Internet cafés are common, including in rural areas, the report said sans citing sources.
Still, the low-tech paper flyer serves as a way to disseminate information, gain attention and coordinate recruitment activities, especially in the provinces.
Last year the POEA created a free mobile app that allows individuals with a smartphone to access information on the status of a recruitment agency, active job orders, as well as information about illegal recruitment and how to identify an illegal recruiter. The app is overseen by workabroad.ph, one of the largest online-recruitment sites in the Philippines.
However, the app does not have any feature for the reporting of abuse.
Researchers observed that job seekers in the Philippines use Facebook and Yahoo! to search for employment overseas.
Despite its apparent benefits, Facebook was said to also play a role in enabling informal recruitment.
“The NGO officials interviewed said that some of their beneficiaries were contacted by unaccredited recruiters via Facebook.”
Networked technologies, nonetheless, is important, according to the report.
“Networked technologies work to provide individuals with connectivity to family, friends, employers, associates, government officials, etc.”
Hence, the study noted that isolation from technology and social networks make OFWs more vulnerable to human trafficking, forced labor and exploitation.
“The confiscation of cell phones, restriction of Internet use and deception in online recruiting can be indicators of labor trafficking—a form of modern-day slavery.”
The study added: “What is striking in the case [of a Filipino trafficked in Malaysia] is the central role played by technology. The woman’s mobile device both connects and disconnects her from illegal recruiters, employers, family, friends, social services and assistance.”
Thus, the researchers recommend that the Philippine government reduce isolation among migrant labor by including legal and regulatory provisions that ensure workers have free access to communication technologies and social networks, hold international cooperative meetings and develop technologies to implement government regulations.