Philippine Foreign Workers - ABUSED!

Philippine Foreign Workers  -  O.F.W.

I have always been disturbed by how the Philippine foreign workers ( mostly housekeepers) are treated by foreign employers.  I watched a documentary on Saturday reporting the problems these OFW’s (mostly women) experience when sent abroad to work.  The majority do not go abroad to work because they choose to go they go out of necessity in order to survive.  They go because of the problems created by the corrupt politicians that have ruled the Philippines since 1986 when Democracy was SUPPOSE to return to the Philippines.

The people were told things would get better when President Cory Aquino took office following EDSA.  In my opinion they have not.  Instead of a few corrupt politicians in Manila you now have many, many corrupt politicians draining the coppers of the government (the people’s money) dry.  These corrupt politicians are not just in Manila they are in every city, province and barangay in the Philippines. 

The government (politicians) claim these slaves (citizens of the Philippines) are the heroes of the Philippines and they are.  The Philippines would be bankrupt if not for them.  But, does the government (politicians) really treat them as the heroes they really are – I think not. 

When their citizens are abused abroad the Philippine government does little to help them.  Few of the abusers, if any, are ever prosecuted for the CRIMES  they commit against Philippine citizens.  I was appalled when I heard government officials say there is little we cam do because if we took action the foreign employers would simply cut out the Philippine workers and take more workers from Sri Lanka and India.  There is something in that statement that tells me the money the (slaves) return to the Philippines is actually far more important to politicians than the heroes of the Philippines dignity and human rights.

The private agencies operated by Philippine citizens that send these people abroad remind me of how the BLACKS in Africa sold their own people into slavery to British slave traders.  They lie to their Filipino brothers and sisters to fill their contracts.  Most are told they are going to work in hotels when the agencies know they are sending them to work in private homes.

The Philippine Government is aware that foreign employers confiscate the passport of the Filipino worker as soon as they arrive at the airport in the country they are sent to.  This violates International Law.  It for all practical purposes serves to make the Filipino worker a slave, for they cannot leave the country they are sent to without a passport, regardless of how cruel their employer is.

If the Filipino worker manages to escape the cruel foreign employer and makes it to a safe house they are still trapped in the country for eight months plus while the Philippine government tries to get their passport back from the foreign employer.  They do not dare leave the safe house during this period of time because their foreign employer may catch them on the streets and force them to return to serve out their contract.

What really sicken me was when I watched how the Filipino’s were trained in Manila to serve as housekeepers.  They were told do not talk back to the madam or master regardless of what they do to you for you will only make it worse for yourself.  They are told many will slap you in the face when you do something wrong instead of simply correcting you and never try to retaliate because you have NO RIGHTS.  They are told in the morning to say, “Good morning madam or master” and goodnight at night.  Always ask can you go to your room at night never go without permission.  You will work probably seven days a week from early morning to around eleven at night. Never open a close door without permission or knocking.  Do not wear any low cut dresses or blouses, it is best to wear tee shirts and LOOSE fitting pants, never shorts because the madam may get jealous.  In other words be prepared to give up all your human rights and to be treated less than a human being (slave) for around $150 dollars a month.

I told my caregiver this morning I cannot say definitely what I would do if I had a daughter about to go abroad to work because I have never and will never face that situation, but I do not think I could or would allow my child to make that kind of sacrifice in order to better the life or our family.  I do not think I would be willing to gamble her safety.

The documentary showed one woman from Sri Lanka that a Saudi employer drove nails through her hands, arms and legs because he did not like the way she clean the floors – nothing was done to him.  A worker was ironing and the employers child got the electric chord at the wall socket and was shocked and the employer took the hot iron and burn both sides of the workers face – nothing was done to her.  There was one horror story after another and no one was ever punished for their abuse.  Rape was not uncommon and rape by teenage employer’s son seem to be a real problem, but no criminal action was ever taken.

This is nothing more than slavery in 2017!

I have never understood why foreign executives and representatives of foreign governments can work in the Philippines and hire a housekeeper in the Philippines for 1500 pesos a month, while they themselves make the same salary they would make in their home country.  What is really ironic is they do not even pay them the monthly $150 average they would have to pay them if they hired the same Filipino worker in their home country.  This definitely is the fault of Philippine politicians and their corruptions.  Do not kid yourself the politicians do not care about the people they care about lining their own pockets.

Would you allow personal pride to interfere with receiving 285 million dollars from European Nations this year when your people are suffering?  FREE money!  I would not.  They could call me all the names they want and if I did not deserve it I would swallow my pride and choose to help my people.  I wonder how many school books, how many desk, how many schools could be build, how much medicine could be distributed to the poor with 285 million dollars.  How many OFW’s could stay in the Philippines and work with dignity on government projects with a 285 million dollar gift from the European Nations?

Now do not get me wrong I am not saying the Philippine politicians are the only ones guilty of ignoring the needs of their people.  My own country, the United States, will spend over 16 billion dollars this year for helping the homeless get places to live and the problem only grows worse every year.  One company that got low interest money and tax credits for building four low income projects stole 37 million dollars from the government (tax payers).  The two owners got less than seven years in prison for their crime and they cannot enter the low income housing program for two years.   When the head of the government program was ask how could this happen, he replied, “We have to rely and trust the developer is quoting the right cost on each project.  We do not have enough employees to audit each project.” 

I think if the government had audited the projects the 37 million dollars that these two men stole would have paid for the audits.  The government employee that made the statement has himself been fired for corruption since the documentary was aired – CORRUPTION in government. 

The real problem was not the lack of funds to hire auditors or not having the employees to audit the projects, the head of the government agency, did not want the audits because he was profiting from the developers theft.  It was not the head of the government agency or his employees that discovered the theft.  A subcontractor went to the Federal United States Attorney of Southern Florida and reported the contractor/developer.  He realized he might eventually receive a prison term for his part in the theft and he offered the government information in exchange for immunity from prosecution.   All governments are corrupt and will remain corrupt until the citizens take action.

Things I did not know about Israel/Palestine

Last week I began to think how can the Arab’s believe Israel is taking over the Middle East.  There are 22 Arab and or Muslim nations. Iran is not considered and Arab nation. Israel is surrounded by Arab and or Muslim nations. How can anyone say "expansionist Israel" has "taken over" the Middle East or trying to take over the Middle East?

The Arab countries occupy 640 times the amount of land as does Israel and outnumber the Jews of Israel by nearly fifty to one. How convenient that today's Arab Nations are forgetting that land east of the Jordan River was also part of "Palestine". Why are they not demanding Jordan return that area to the Palestinians?

In 1916 control of the southern portion of the Ottoman Empire was turned over to France and Britain under the Sykes-Picot Agreement, which divided the Arab region. Lebanon and Syria were assigned to France and "Palestine" (today's Jordan, Israel and "West Bank" and Gaza ) was given to Great Britain.  Because no other peoples had ever established a national homeland in "Palestine" since the Jews had done it 2,000 years before, the British "looked favorably" upon the creation of a Jewish National Homeland throughout ALL of Palestine.

The Jews had already begun mass immigration into Palestine in the 1880's in an attempt to rid the land of swamps and malaria and to prepare for the rebirth of Israel. This Jewish effort to revitalize the land did not only attracted Jews back to the land it also attracted an equally large immigration of Arabs from neighboring areas who were drawn by employment opportunities and healthier living conditions. There was never any attempt by the Jews to get rid of the Arabs in the land.

in 1946 Trans-Jordan was renamed to "Jordan". The remaining 18% of Palestine, now WEST of the Jordan River, was to be the Jewish Palestinian homeland.  However, sharing was not part of the Arab psychological makeup then or now. With the help of the British the Jews were forced out of Trans-Jordan!

The British at first tried to maintain order but soon due to the large oil deposits being discovered throughout the Arab Middle East they turned a blind eye. It became clear to the Palestinian Jews that they must fight the Arabs and drive out the British. Finally in 1947 the British had enough and turned the Palestine matter over to the United Nations.

The 1947 U.N. Resolution 181 partition plan was to divide the remaining 18% of Palestine into a Jewish Palestinian State and a SECOND Arab Palestinian State  based upon population concentrations.  The Jewish Palestinians accepted... the Arab Palestinians rejected. The Arabs still wanted ALL of Palestine... both east AND west of the Jordan River. Therefore, the resolution was not carried out and it never became legally binding! The Arabs started the 1948 war.

On May 14, 1948 the "Palestinian" Jews finally declared their own State of Israel and became "Israelis." On the next day, seven neighboring Arab armies - Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Yemen... invaded Israel. Most of the Arabs living within the boundaries of the newly declared "ISRAEL" were encouraged to leave by the invading Arab armies to facilitate the slaughter of the Jews and were promised to be given all Jewish property after the victorious Arab armies won the war.

The truth is that most of the Arab Palestinians who left Israel in 1948 – between 400,000 to 500,000 – never saw an Israeli soldier! They did not flee because they feared Jews. They left because they believe the Jews would be exterminated and would return afterwards to reclaim their homes, and to inherit Jewish properties as well. They guessed wrong.  The Jews  did not throw out all the Palestinian Arabs living in Israel they chose to leave after being encourage to do so by the seven Arab nations that invaded Israel. Those Arabs who did not flee became Israeli-Arab citizens.

The end result of the 1948-49 Israeli War of Independence was the creation of a Jewish State. From 1949-67 when all of the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem were under Arab [Jordanian, Syria and Egyptian] control, no effort was EVER made to create a second Palestinian State for the Arabs living there. Why do many in the world want the Jews to give up part of their country when none of the Arabs were willing to concede any of their land to the 'so called' Palestinian Arabs?

Throughout much of May 1967, the Egyptian, Jordanian and Syrian armies mobilized along Israel's narrow and seemingly indefensible borders in preparation for a massive invasion to eliminate the State of Israel. Within two hours the Egyptian Air Force did not exist most of its planes were destroyed while still on the runways. Unaware that the Egyptians had no more air force, King Hussein of Jordan launched his attack from the his West Bank into Israel, while Syrian troops prepared to descend down the Golan Heights high ground into northern Israel. The Arabs lost the battle in six days they had once again underestimated the Jewish Nation of Israel.  

Now, 35+ years later and despite the fact that Israel won a war started by seven Arab nations and fought by three Arab nations the Israelis are still willing to allow the Arab-Palestinians to have a state on much of the West Bank and Gaza if only they would stop sending their suicide/homicide bombers into the heart of Israel.

Israel was responsible for bringing about some of its own problems. The Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza Strip were packed and ready to leave following their 1967 defeat. Suddenly the victorious Israeli General Moshe Dayan persuaded them to stay. I think this was madness. The Arabs would have slaughtered the Jews if they would have had an opportunity to do so and to this day are still trying to. Dayan's plan was to educate them, offer them modern medical treatment, provide them with employment both in the West Bank, Gaza and inside Israel Proper itself. He thought he would be able to build a healthy relationships with the Arabs – how wrong he was.  If he build a bridge to the Arab world it was a bridge to terrorism.

Jordan accounts for 3/4 of Palestine's original land mass. Though they may call themselves "Jordanians," they are culturally, ethnically, historically and religiously no different than the Arab-"Palestinians" on the "West Bank." Even the flag of Jordan and the flag of the proposed 2nd Arab-Palestinian state on the West Bank / Gaza look almost identical. Why do they not give the 'so called' Palestinians their own land to establish a State or Nation. 

Another thing that is interesting to me is the term "Palestinian". The name had referred to Israeli Jews back in the 1940's, and has been slowly redefined to refer to the Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza. I guess political correctness started much earlier than we thought. 

The Middle East Conflict was always a war by Arabs against Jews, not a conflict between Israelis and "Palestinians." The war was repackaged as a conflict between Jews and Palestinians as a public relations gimmick by the Arab fascist regimes. These regimes had never had any interest in "Palestinians," or in creating a "Palestinian" state, or in "Palestinian nationalism" before 1967. The Palestinians are a regional group of Arabs having virtually no cultural nor national distinctive traits separating them from Syrians, Lebanese, and Jordanians. They are all basically Arabs. Yasser Arafat’s family came to Gaza from Egypt and a wealthy family of current PA President Mahmoud Abbas moved to Tzfat from Damascus, Syria!

The Middle East war continues because it is really an Arab-Israeli war, not an Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is also in large part a war between barbarism and civilization and in many ways an Islamic religious jihad against the Jews.

There is more than one Christian solution to the refugee problem.

The Christian Church in the United States may be about to face the largest divisive issue we have faced in decades. The issue of homosexuality may pale to the Syrian refuge issue.

Christians that want us to welcome the Syrian refugees with open arms will tell us: The story of Exodus is the story of God’s people without a land and without a home. God delivered the Israelites because “He heard their cry. - The story of the Good Samaritan is Jesus’ way of saying, remember that Jews and Samaritans did not get along it is a story of how you have to care for people, even those who you despise. - If we claim to be a Christian, or even claim we are a Christian nation we have to care for those in need regardless of who they are. - “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these, you did for me.” Jesus serves as the final authority of how we are to greet and care for the least of these. - James writes to scattered people, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” - As tens of thousands of refugees flee Syria, they are a people without a land. They are aliens without a home. Syrian refugees are strangers to us who have a culture, language and religion different from us. They are the least of these. They are men, women and children who are in need of a new place to call home. This “Christian nation” is called by scripture to care for Syrian refugees.

A decade ago, maybe even five years ago, I would have agreed whole heartily without hesitation with all those words. I might be up in arms against those that did not want to welcome the Syrian refugees, but times have changed. I hope that I would not have called those that disagreed with me a bigot and hypocrite as many of the Christians supporting bringing the Syrian refugees to the U.S. are doing, including our President.

When it comes to Muslim immigration, we must not be led by our emotions. The spread of political Islam and creeping sharia law is often accomplished by means of immigration. BBC reports that fake passports are already being used to get jihadists into Europe. German customs officers have seized packages containing Syrian passports and police suspect they are being sold illegally to asylum seekers. Honduras stopped six Syrian men with false passports on their way to the United States. A finance ministry official said both genuine and forged passports were in the packets intercepted in the post office. ISIS has threatened to send 500,000 migrants to Europe as part of jihad. Do we close our minds to these facts?

ISIS claims they have fighters that are already in place in Europe and with the reason events in Paris I have no reason to doubt them. Our own Homeland Security and F.B.I. say they are investigating reported terrorist suspects in every State. There can be and most likely will be consequences to badly directed compassion.

We must also ask why most rich Muslim nations are refusing to take in these refugees. Perhaps they know something we don’t. Five of the wealthiest Muslim countries have taken no Syrian refugees, arguing that doing so would open them up to the risk of terrorism. Muslim nations are admitting that Muslim refugees pose a genuine terrorist threat. Yet, Obama, Liberals and a lot of Christians are asking us to throw our doors wide open with no questions asked. Western countries tend to want to be more politically correct than right and God knows they do not want to be accused of Islamophobia.

Please, do not lecture me about vetting and that it would take 18 to 24 months before we saw the first Syrian refugees. We did not do such a good job vetting the terrorist that came on student visas. We did not do such a good job of keeping up with the terrorist that over stayed their tourist visas. We have estimates as high as sixteen million illegal aliens in our country today and no one in our government can tell us where they live.

I had a friend send me two pictures of dead children that washed ashore asking me how I could look at those pictures and question if we should open our doors to Syrian refugees. I admit the pictures broke my heart. The children in my opinion were not dead because advanced countries have immigration laws. The children were dead because criminal traffickers risked the lives of their victims in pursuit of money.

The President of Turkey said that one of those children and his parents had been living in Turkey for three years and were provided shelter. The President of Turkey claims they were safe so I ask were they fleeing from danger, or fleeing towards a higher standard of living. I thought the definition of refugee was one that was fleeing danger. Am I supposed to automatically assume that the President of Turkey is lying?

Michel Houellebecq, has a new book out where he prophesies a Muslim dominated government in France about seven years from now, ushered into power by the French Tory and Labor parties. He says his research reveals they want France to disappear.

How many people today remember the community in Wasco County, Oregon? It was incorporated as a city in the 1980s, and was populated with followers of the spiritual teacher Bhagwat Shree Rajneesh, later known as Osho. They eventually imported 7000 people to this small community. Initially, they had stated that they were planning to create a small agricultural community; their land was zoned for agricultural use. But it soon became apparent that they wanted to establish the kind of infrastructure and services normally associated with a town. The land-use conflict escalated to bitter hostility between the commune and local residents, even leading to murder.

In 1986 the courts ruled that the religious group had the right to incorporate the city and elect their own government officials. The city eventually went bankrupt. Unfortunately most of the local farmers and ranchers had already been forced to move away. This could be an example of a refugee problem in a small established community.

Will there be any type of control where these refugees will settle. What if they eventually take over a small town in the Western United States and force the locals out. You believe that is farfetched, well I believe bringing refugees in without any terrorist being among them is farfetched. I believe bringing Syrian refugees to our country without a plan that covers vetting, housing, medical, education, clothing, food, where they will work and what cities they will live in is not worth the risk.

We cannot rely on emotions and sadly we cannot rely only on scripture to solve this serious problem for us. We had to override scripture when it came to slavery, women’s rights, killing children that talk back, killing adulterous people, etc. The Good Samaritan story just may not be applicable to this situation we are in now.

One Baptist minister from Alabama said, “If we cannot trust the process by which the United States Government vets refugees fleeing violence and persecution, then we cannot trust any form of our border security or immigration or visa processes.” At the moment I don’t trust any form of our border security or immigration or visa processes. If these policies were working then how did the terrorist carry out 9/11 and how did maybe sixteen million illegal aliens get into our country?

The Baptist minister quotes John Sandweg, former acting director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement: “The United States employs a robust and layered approach to the screening of refugees. Prior to setting foot on U.S. soil, refugees must first clear a comprehensive background investigation that includes multiple layers of in-person interviews, biographic and biometric background checks, and interviews of third-persons who may have information related to the individual. No refugee may be admitted into the U.S. unless and until this lengthy process is complete and reveals no information that would suggest the person poses a security risk.”

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton denied she had a private server and had classified information on it. The head of the I.R.S. Lois Lerner said the I.R.S. was not discriminating against conservatives for tax exemptions, but then she took the fifth. President Obama said there was not one smidgen of corruption in the I.R.S. and we found out differently. Obama said if you like your health care plan you can keep it – did that turn out to be true? Obama said my father left my family when I was 2 years old and we now know he never spent one night with his father. Obama said The Fast and Furious program was a field-initiated program begun under the previous administration we now know for a fact it began in 2009 under his administration. Obama claimed they revealed to the American people exactly what they knew about the attack on the American consulate in Benghazi and that turned out not to be true. Obama said transparency and the rule of law would be the touchstone of his Presidency - what a joke!

Does the Baptist minister expect me to believe John Sandweg? Isn’t this the same John Sandweg that left his position in less than a year? He walked out without providing a clear explanation. Is he not the same John Sandweg that had no experience in Immigration and was opposed by many when he was being vetted? Isn’t this the same John Sandweg that tried to stop a Freedom of Information investigation into spending in the DHS? I am sorry, but I have a hard time taking John Sandweg’s word on anything.

I wish some Christian had facts that were proven to be trustworthy so I could reconcile the conflict I have in my heart with the Syrian Refugee problem, but no one has.

The only viable solution I see at the moment is extending more financial aid to Muslim countries, particularly Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon to take care of the Syrian refugees where they are. These refugees will have a better chance of getting back into their country and possibly gaining control of their country if they are living near where they came from rather than moving them to Europe, Australia and the United States. I do not deny that our country and all Western countries, regardless if they are Christian or not, has an obligation to protect their security and provide adequate living conditions for them. Supporting them there would help stop them from needing to go elsewhere.

Syria in my opinion will remain a serious problem for many years, that's all the more reason for a longer-term humanitarian response, including setting up schools and medical facilities. We would probably get more loyalty from the Syrians and they would be more encouraged to stand up to ISIS by helping them with aid than spending millions on training a few Syrian rebel fighters.

I have read the Syrian refugees do not want to live in camps where all the tents look alike. They want to live in homes. I wish that was possible. I am sure the people in the Philippines that have been without homes for over two years due to typhoons would like to have a home. We cannot always have what we ‘want’ we sometimes have to settle for what we can get at the moment.

I do believe building permanent homes may be more feasible than tents, since this is going to be a long term problem. I guess the Syrian refugees would complain that the home all look alike. The people of the Philippines that have been given government homes that all look alike are thrilled. It makes me question the Syrian refugee’s real motives.

One last point the Syrian refugees I see on television appear to be healthy young men.  If these are real refugees, where are the women? Where are the elderly? Where are the weak and the sick? It appears to me that they have no intention of fighting for their own freedom in Syria. They have made up their minds they want to live in the West.

This is a quote from a group of young men that left the refugee camp in Hungary, “No good here in Hungary. No good. They try and lock us up. But we want Germany, there it is good. We have no worry about nothing there. They give us food and house and job. In Hungary they want to watch us all the time.” They are in the majority amongst the thousands who arrive each day in Hungary on their way north. While they wait they want to charge their iPhones, eat more pizza and board their trains.  Everyone either has an iPhone or knows someone else who does. They use them to talk to family members on the other side of the world or network with each other sharing information. This is what they told an aid worker.

Several of the young men had already spent $5000 on travel when they got to Hungary. Refugees have $5000 plus in cash? One said, “I want new life. I want to go to university. Make money. I want to work in a bank, be a banker. Bring all my family later.” When ask why he did not stay and fight for his homeland he said, “There is nothing worth fighting for.”

There is no future there because Obama took away all their future by allowing the “J.V. Team” as Obama called ISIS to take over their country. Obama says as long as he is President he will befriend the refugees. If he was truly a friend of the refugees he would not have withdrawn the troops against the advice of his military advisors and he would have stood up to the President of Syria when he crossed Obamas red line.

I am not convinced that God expects us to risk allowing terrorist to come into our country as they did in France and kill our citizens. I am convinced God does expect us to help the Syrian refugees. There is more than one way to accomplish that and other ways have far less risk for the citizens of the United States. Help them where they are!

A Jewish man was taking a trip alone and was attacked by robbers. A Samaritan man came by. Even though they both lived in the land of Palestine and shared a similar religion, the Jews and the Samaritans definitely did not think of each other as "neighbors." In fact, they hated each other. They had considered each other enemies for hundreds of years and refused to even talk to each other! This Samaritan man took pity on the injured Jewish man. He bandaged his wounds. He put him on his own donkey and took him to an inn where he could be safe and recover. Jesus was pleased with the Samaritan man in the story even though he did not take the Jewish man back into his home, but took care of him where he was.

God led the Jews into battle and they took the Promise Land from its inhabitants and the Jews settled on it. Why aren’t the Christians and Obama that advocate bringing the refugees to the United States willing to take the land back from ISIS and let the Syrian return to their land? God and the Jews defeated the pagans cannot God and the United States defeat the ISIS pagans? I think we can.

Have we stopped believing that God hears the cries of the Syrians? God said, “Whatever you do for the least you do for me.” James wrote we are to look after the orphans and widows are Christians not capable of doing that there instead of the United States? There is not just one Christian solution to the Syrian refugee problem.