Thousands of overseas Filipino workers here have pinned their hope on president-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III that their woes would be addressed better as he is set to take his oath on June 30.
Noynoy Aquino, at the cover of TIME Magazine.
They also called on the incoming Aquino administration to create more jobs and opportunities in the country so they would not have to leave and seek greener pastures abroad.
“Our hope is for the new government to create more jobs in the country so that there would be no more Filipinos who would have to go and work abroad,” said Milagros Ladra, a 44-year-old native of Davao City who began working as a domestic helper in Singapore in 1992.
Ladra stayed in Singapore for two years and subsequently moved to Hong Kong where she has since been working.
“We all love to go home. We hope we will have jobs back home,” she further said.
She said it could be a long shot but that she also shares the same fervent wish that if there are jobs back home, the pay should also be equal if not higher than what they are receiving as OFWs.
Ladra likewise said OFWs here also pin their hope on Aquino that his administration would address the woes of their sector particularly on the unscrupulous practices of recruitment agencies.
“We would want the new government to also make a massive assessment and check on all the existing recruitment agencies because most of these agencies have not only been charging the OFWs exorbitant placement fees but that they all dupe us,” Ladra said.
Delfa Tacuban, another Filipina worker here, said the recruitment fees have been so exorbitant to the extent that OFWs sell all their properties and even borrow money with high interest and yet they end up receiving meager salaries.
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