A media launch was held last July 18, 2017 at Golden Bay Restaurant, Pasay City to launch the oath taking event that will happen on October. As multi-awarded public service show, Buhay OFW which airs every Saturday at 9:30 pm on Aksyon TV and Aksyon International, celebrates its 7th year anniversary, they take a significant leap forward by launching the project Anti Trafficking OFW Movement (ATOM) through the initiative of host and founder, Marissa del Mar.
What is OFW? An Overseas Filipino Worker? I was
a former OFW at Singapore, i am a victim of illegal recruiter last 2005 of
September. To begin my story, I met a girl at Makro Cubao since our company has
an exhibit in that store. She told me of story about in Singapore and offered
me a position as a waitress. In short, yes I agree as long I will pay 10,000.00
pesos for her fee and the ticket is FREE. When I arrived at Singapore airport
early morning, no one who fetches me, I just ask the taxi driver to send me in
the address to show him. But on the same day, the woman told us that we need to
prepare ourselves because we will go to work, but when I saw the nature or vibes
in the restaurant I felt that this is a BAR and I notice a lot of girls whom
playing around customers and doing something crazy
ATOM is as a step towards
remedying the statistics of over 10 million Filipino men, women, and children subjected
to sex trafficking and forced labor worldwide. Our OFW, in dire need to provide
a better future for themselves and their families, constitute a large
percentage of those already exploited or at risk of being exploited. This
campaign recognizes the contribution of the OFW not only in the Philippine
Economic Development but also in the promotion of safety among their fellow migrants.
Although a term less estranged to
many due to depictions in entertainment outlets such as Hollywood movies,
human-trafficking is an ongoing hazard closer to home than most people expect
and realize. UNDOC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) recognizes
trafficking in as simple a situation as the recruitment of a person for a false
job within or across national borders with the intention to trap them into
forced labor. More often, however, the deception and abuse does not stop there.
It leads to prostitution, sexual exploitation, slavery, and removal of organs.
Some common destinations for
victims are Hong Kong, Kuwait, Singapore, Qatar, China, Japan, United Arab
Emirates, and Malaysia – places popular to the general public as tourist
destinations. Ninoy Aquino International Airport and Mactan International
Airport become exit points for workers expecting real jobs abroad only to be
met instead with real threats. They are also smuggled and trafficked in ports in
Ilocos Sur, Zamboanga del Sur, Davao del Sur, Misamis Oriental, Bicol, and
Dagupan City with 30% transported by sea.
These victims – a large number of
whom originate from areas within Metro Manila and in the provinces of Laguna,
Rizal, Pampanga, Cavite, Batangas, Cebu, Zamboanga, and Davao – are the same
people who contribute to the Philippines 180 billion pesos in total remittance
which lead to the amassing of foreign reserves and the rise of the national
savings rate. They sacrifice their comfort, health, marriages, children, and often
their pride, to improve their recipient households and, in the process, the
national economy. These are the people stripped of their human rights by
predators operating under pretense of recruitment agencies and other aliases.
Through the combined efforts of
Buhay OFW Foundation, San Miguel Corporation, Volunteers Against Crime and
Corruption (VACC), National Real Estate Association (NREA), Sterling Group of
Companies, Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), Philippine Chamber
of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), Philippine Chinese Charitable Association
(PCCA), Zonta Club of Makati Central Business District, Philippine Chinese Chamber of Commerce and
Industry Inc. (PCCCII), together also with our media partners Aksyon TV, ANC,
Light Network Channel, Malaya Business Insight, these facts become the foundation on which
change begins. The meaningful oath taking will take place on October 23, Monday
at the Diamond Hotel, Manila.
Cooperation with these organizations
and authorities could uncover and convict more labor traffickers and officials
and establishments complicit in these crimes. The resulting assistance of
thousands of victims opens opportunities for further action towards the safety
of all.
ATOM challenges Filipinos here
and abroad to raise awareness, strengthen camaraderie, and therefore reduce –
in hopes of someday eliminating – this threat to our OFW altogether.
Sources:
news.abs-cbn.com/global-filipino/02/20/15/ofws-contributions-ph-economy-cited-forum/
For more information and partnership, please contact Veronica Ramos at
0927-8484533 or Mari De Los Santos at 834-9673 of Buhay OFW TV
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