By Joy B. Miranda
Cyprus has more or less ten thousand Filipino workers. Some are recorded, some are not. This is a fact. Let me be straight here. Filipino workers who are about to finish their employment contract of four years are still hoping to get chances to stay longer. Most workers who are employed under elders will get a chance to be extended for a year or two. Legally, that should be the case. But of course, not everyone can stay that much. Four years is four years. So most Filipino workers do is, they would think of the possibilities of getting a long term residency. To those who have no chance, they ended up as T.N.T. (tago ng tago) status. It is a fact, and will remain a common fact. Personally, I know being T.n.T is an unwise move, but I can not blame those who opted to do it. There is money here. Work is quite hard but still, money in Cyprus is good. So even if these T.n.T.’s know how risky their situation is, they don’t care. For as long as they can still send money everytime to families, they said, it is worth the courage to become T.n.T. (Doble ingat lang po, mahirap din pag mahuli at makulong.)
I came home from work today thinking about this. Sadly, Philippine Government has no official representative to Cyprus, following the recent resignation of Honorary Consul Vanthoula Tsaousis- Constantinides. The Filipino Community is appealing to the government to send at least labour attache or an OWWA representative. I for one is feeling neglected, somehow. Kawawa naman ang mga pinoy dito, parang mga batang lansangan na walang bahay masilungan. There are many problems which OFWs in Cyprus are facing. There are hundreds of different cases in court, numbers of Filipinas in jail, even personal problems which if not be attended to immediately, will create greater problems at workplaces. Hope people in the government will be able to see it soon, and act immediately. After all, OFWs in Cyprus through our regular remittances, are doing huge favor to the country’s economy.
I would like to share an article from my favourite opinion- writer Rene Bartolo of Mindanao Times. The many ‘whys’ I received from curious non-Filipino people asking me as to why so many educated pinays have come to work abroad as domestic helpers, is being answered in his article which I posted below. Hope you enjoy reading it.
The Laggard of Asia
By Rene Espeleta-Bartolo – (Ricochet, Mindanao Times)
The country’s economic managers are proclaiming a robust economy; the government is saying that we have never had it so good. But what is this warning from the World Bank? Last week, in a forum on governance in Manila, the World Bank flatly said the economy of the Philippines is being left behind by the rest of Asia. The country, said the World Bank, runs the risk of being left further behind by its Asian neighbors unless it pushes ahead with dramatic economic reforms. World Bank managing director Juan Jose Daboub told government officials and business leaders present during the forum on Tuesday that the Philippines “is not reaching its full potential and may be facing the risk of falling further behind the rest of Asia.â€? Daboub cited the rapid growth of China and India and noted that Vietnam, which once lagged behind the Philippines, has lately shown remarkable success, cutting in half the number of its poor in just over a decade. The World Bank official said the success of Vietnam is happening despite the country being “closed society with no political freedomâ€? but its economy has started to pick up because of the market reforms instituted by the Vietnamese government. In contrast, said Daboub, the Philippines, with an open democracy, free press, well-educated population and active private and civil sector, has been unsuccessfully struggling to bring most of its population out of poverty. What can be the reason for this, dear reader? Why is the oldest democracy turning out to be the laggardliest in Asia? Daboub cited the recent joint World Bank-Asian Development Bank survey which identified two major obstacles to robust economic growth: macro-economic instability and corruption. The Philippines has been showing improvement with the passage of key fiscal reforms that were reducing the budget deficit, allowing more money to go to investment, social services and education, the World Bank official said. The country has the ability to follow the success of China and India and could also enjoy rapid growth, said Daboub, citing the country’s open society, active private sector, lively civil society groups and high levels of literacy and skilled labor force. “These conditions are fertile ground for good economic policies to grow and flourish,â€? he said. So why the lethargy? Is the repression being practiced by government against lively and democratic dissent making the Philippines a closed society, stymieing in effect its growth? Perhaps, but the problem runs deeper. Among the measures the World Bank is suggesting is to reduce the size of the state, saying this would also reduced the chance of misuse of funds while raising the activity of the private sector and civil society. Reducing the size of the state, meaning streamlining the government bureaucracy – was a promise made by President Gloria Arroyo more than a year ago. Nothing has been done. On October 13, 2005, in the column “Liposuctionâ€?, I wrote: “In the nooks and crannies of the government are offices, bureaus, departments, agencies, administrations that were created to give a show of being concerned for the needs of the people or responsive to specific acute situations – but never intended to function as such. “There are 59 offices/commissions directly under the Office of the President. The departments under the executive likewise have agencies and bureaus that spill over. “The Department of Agriculture has 20 bureaus/offices; Education, 10; Environment & Natural Resources, 7; Finance, 12; Foreign affairs, 7; Health, 12; Interior & Local Government, 6; Justice, 9; Labor & Employment, 15; National Defense, 9; Science & Technology, 21; Transportation & Communication, 12; Trade & Industry, 23.â€? That means 163 offices and bureaus under 13 departments. That makes a total of 222 offices under the executive (59 directly under the Office of the President). At about the same time last year, House appropriations committee chair Rolando Andaya revealed that the government spends a total of P1.2 billion for Malacañang consultants, most of whom are political accommodations with no specific or perceivable functions. Another measure recommended by the World Bank is to improve governance, increase transparency and the accountability of state institutions. In short, eradicate corruption. The United States has given the Arroyo government P1 billion to fight corruption. But with the seeming cover-up by Malacañang itself of issues such as the Bolante fiasco, the PCGG, the rape of the GSIS, SSS, and OWWA funds, how can we believe the Arroyo government is serious about eradicating corruption? Corruption is not fought by lip service. In the same manner that economic growth cannot be achieved with press releases. That is why we still are the “Laggard of Asia.â€? (For comments and reactions, e-mail: rene_bartolo@yahoo.com)
