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.

What should be the primary purpose or goal of U.S. foreign policy

I have no doubts that Hillary Clinton is not prepared to handle the foreign policies of the United States if elected President.  She has a track record as Secretary of State and her foreign policy was a disaster.  I cannot name one thing that she really accomplished as Secretary of State except get one of our Ambassadors killed. 

I have been listening for one of the Republican Primary candidates to give a thoughtful discussion on foreign affairs and as of today I have not heard any of them do so.  Their discussions on any subject have not been more than three minute sound bites.

Some right wing conservatives want our foreign policy to be based primarily on religious and ethical values and I disagree with them.  I think our foreign policy should be based primarily on advancing our national interest.

We should lead the people of the world by example, but we should not try to impose our moral and ethical values on any other country.  I do not know a single American that would approve of any country trying to impose their ethical and moral values on us.  The Muslim and Sharia Law question is an example of our distaste of anyone trying to change our system of governance.

Our foreign policy should have as its primary interest security, strong alliances, diplomatic success, and economic self-interest. Those interests have nothing to do with us wanting to be powerful and wealthy.  They have everything to do with making America greater for Americans.  What is wrong with wanting world events to work out in a way that benefits our interests?  Isn’t that what the people of other countries want for themselves?

I am sorry but I do not understand the wisdom in the United States borrowing money from China to assist other countries.  If we were not trillions of dollars of debt I would be all for our assisting any country that needed it.  If all Americans who wanted to work had jobs I would be for assisting other countries. 

For decades we have helped other countries that took jobs from the United States.  After World War II we rebuild Japan’s steel industry.  We installed the latest electric furnaces which destroy the U.S. steel industry.  My family suffered because of it.

I am for the strongest military in the world because I think it is a deterrent to our having to go to war.  I am not for sending troops to Iraq to overthrow a government when they have demonstrated they are not willing to fight for their own democracy.  We have done this over and over and not just in Iraq.

Some Liberals and some Republicans would like to see our Foreign Policy primarily based on a moralistic view that says the goal of U.S. foreign policy should be to advance American/humane values.  If we are demonstrating morals and humane values in the United States then perhaps the people of the world will want to model us.  We should not try to push/advance our values on others. I am for freedom, democracy, human rights, global peacemaking, and advancing the global common good, but I am not for doing it on the backs of the American taxpayers.  I am not for borrowing money to advance those goals. 

I am sorry but charity begins at home and your excess you share.  Do you think I would allow my family to starve or not have medical care while helping strangers?  That may be cold, but it is a fact.  No one reading this is more charitable than I am, but my family has never suffered so I could help others.

These Liberals and Conservatives that want this type of foreign policy are for maintaining substantial budgets for foreign aid, regular use of US diplomacy and perhaps military force to advance freedom and democracy, humanitarian intervention in situations of human rights violations, and strong support for the United Nations and other global and regional bodies.  They want us to police the world and I do not believe that is not what the people of the world want us to do. 

There are people in the Philippines where I presently live that are disgusted with America because that is exactly what they think America is trying to do in the Philippines. The Philippine government forced the United States to close its military installations in the Philippines shortly after Martial Law ended.  There are regular protests in front of the American Embassy in Manila today by students that are against U.S. intervention in internal affairs.  Any time the American Ambassador makes a comment on Philippine policies you can expect a demonstration.  

These Liberals and conservatives that have this foreign policy mindset think if we do not do as they say our only option is isolationism, which would limit international engagement and focus only on issues within our borders.  That is an extreme view.  We do not have to isolate ourselves from the world in order to have a foreign policy that is in the best interest of the United States. 

We can continue our trade agreements.  We can continue our disaster relief programs. We can continue to protect our allies from outside threats. But, nation building should not be our goal. 

They admit they want to use U.S. military power and U.S. dollars to fix world problems.  It has not worked in the past so why do they think it would work in the future?  All it has accomplished so far is to put us deeper and deeper in debt.  A debt we can never pay in full. It has caused us to be humiliated worldwide over and over again. What good is a weak and broke United States to the world? In a position of weakness we will not be able to help the people of the world in times of disasters and we certainly could not help our allies when facing outside threats. We would be forced to isolate ourselves and pray no one came after us.

Religious zealots try to push pious politicians toward the Good America philosophy where we try and buy friendships, push our religious beliefs on others and go deeper in debt helping some countries that do not want or appreciate our help. In a lot of cases the politicians in those countries steal the money for personal use and the people realize little to nothing from our help. It has been a normal practice for the U.S. to give aid with requiring accountability. 

They will tell you the morality in foreign affairs during the administrations of Wilson, Carter and Bush was good and criticize the foreign affairs policy of Nixon, but was it not Nixon that renewed our relationship with China. Was it not Nixon who signed the first arms treaty with Russia. Maybe you have to have foreign policies that fit the character and nature of the country you are dealing with. When dealing with corrupt politicians abroad they will take advantage of your religious values and moralistic views.  You have to deal with them on their level. They see you as being weak and STUPID!  Perhaps this is why we have so many bad trade policies with other countries. I do not think the Carter, Bush and Wilson foreign policies will be adopted by Donald Trump and that may be why he is leading in the polls.

I want to see a presidential debate that require candidates to clarify their foreign policy.