Date: December 2, 2009
Time: 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Venue: Crown Regency Suites Mactan, Maximo Patalinghulog Jr. Avenue, Lapu-lapu, Cebu City
Date: December 4, 2009
Time: 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Venue: Crown Regency Residences Davao, J.P. Cabaguio Avenue, Agdao, Davao City
Date: December 9, 2009
Time: 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Venue: Metro-Pacific Room, 3/F AIM Conference Center Manila, Benavidez cor. Trasierra Sts., Legaspi Village, Makati City
Policy Dialogues on RA 8042
Crafted as a result of the uproar over the execution of Flor Contemplacion in Singapore, the Magna Carta for Migrant Workers or Republic Act No. 8042 sought to give comprehensive policy directions to overseas employment, considered then as a temporary employment solution.
And yet, from the enactment of RA 8042 up to the present, the policy ambivalence towards the sector has remained even as the sector has grown into a full-blown economic sector. Around ten (10) million Filipinos are working overseas and are providing the wherewithal to nearly one fourth of the population. Without the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), the “consumption-driven Philippine economy” would simply grind to a halt.
The Asian Institute of Management Policy Center will hold a series of policy dialogues on RA 8042 and the policy challeges facing the migration sector. These policy dialogues among select representatives of OFW stakeholder hope to discuss the following:
- A scorecard of RA 8042: review of the Gancayco recommendations and what have been done up to present
- What RA 8042 has accomplished, and the gaps and deviations that have developed
The discussions will be conducted along the original policy thrust of RA 8042 listed below:
- Macro development policy: phasing out of overseas employment as the principal driver of the economy
- Specific policy recommendations:
a. Deregulation of the overseas recruitment industry
b. Tighter rules on recruitment at home, deployment abroad (selective) and illegal recruitment
c. Unified service to OFWs by foreign affairs ad labor officials (under the team country approach) and comprehensive system of protection and welfare assistance to OFWs abroad, inclduing establishment of half-way houses or resource centers
d. Overseas voting privilege for OFWs
e. Repatriation services
f. Establishment of reintegration and replacement center, inlcuding welfare assitstance to OFWs and families
g. Varied related government services to OFWs such as strengthened information dissemination, semi-annual report on the sector, etc.