Labor | Filipino workers in Macau want consulate open on Sundays

The Philippine Consulate General in Macau

The opening of the Philippine Consulate General in Macau on Sundays for services to the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and the abolition of the Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC) constitute two of the most pressing concerns of the Filipino migrants in Macau.
Migrante Macau, an organization of Filipino migrant workers in Macau, has conducted a survey among OFWs in the region, garnering 113 respondents.
According to the organization’s statement, 65 percent said they wished the administration of the new president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, to compel the Philippine Consulate General in Macau to operate on Sundays to serve Filipino domestic workers.
“Many of us domestic helpers cannot just go out from our employer’s house to have our papers – like passports – processed. Since last year, we have been holding dialogues with the Philippine Consulate General to have the same operation as in Hong Kong. However, this demand of ours is yet to be acted upon,” said Emer de Lina, chairperson of Migrante-Macau.
Fifty-eight percent of the respondents want the abolition of the OEC as they find the document redundant and a cause of inconvenience.
The OEC is sometimes called the “exit pass,” and is required to be presented to international ports of exit in the Philippines “as proof that the holder is a bona fide OFW.”
The chairperson said documents such as an employment contract, working visa or the like already constitute enough proof that one is an overseas worker and thus entitled to travel with tax and airport fee exemptions.
Other significant demands from the survey included opposition to arbitrary offloading of Filipinos bound to Macau; eradicating the “bullet planting” scam (the criminal practice of inserting bullets in travellers’ luggage) and defending the rights of OFWs.
The survey also shows that creation of employment in the Philippines topped the OFWs’ concerns.
“This will ensure that no more Filipinos will be forced to endure whatever labor and living arrangements they are given overseas just so they can hold on to their jobs” said de Lina.
According to the statement, the results of the survey will be presented to other organizations in the region in hopes of jointly urging the Duterte government to act.
The group also hopes to send a letter to the new government before the president delivers his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) this month.
During Duterte’s candidacy rally, the president said his priority in terms of labor issues was the OFWs, and that he planned to create an OFW department. Lynzy Valles