‘For jobless OFWs, it’s not the end of the world’

Filipinos in the CNMI who are unable to find employers to obtain legal status on the islands—as required by the final worker rule issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security—should not regard it as “the end of the world” for them, according to Consul General Medardo Macaraig.

“Just because you don’t qualify to stay based on the worker rule doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world. If you cannot stay, the Philippines is ready to welcome you back home,” Macaraig said in an interview yesterday.

The 149-page final rule creates a Commonwealth-only worker status or CW permit that will allow foreign workers to remain on the islands until Dec. 31, 2014, which is the end of the federalization transition period.

Employers are given less than three months to apply for CW permits for all of their foreign employees or at least have the CW permit application in process by Nov. 27, 2011. Otherwise, these foreign workers will face deportation.

Macaraig disclosed that they have already sent a report to the Department of Foreign Affairs in the Philippines notifying the office about the release of the final rule.

Macaraig reiterated several times that the final rule is “very clear” that foreign workers who do not have legal status will “have to go home.”

“Filipinos cannot stay if they’re illegals here,” Macaraig told Saipan Tribune yesterday. “But they can go back to the country that they love and loves them back.”

Macaraig maintained that since his arrival two years ago, he has given emphasis to the three options that Filipino workers in the CNMI have: to remain legally in the islands, find job opportunities elsewhere through the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, or go back to the Philippines.

Since many Filipinos have lost their jobs in the Commonwealth as a result of the islands’ economic decline, Macaraig said they constantly remind Filipino workers about job prospects in other countries that employ their skills and talents and the option to go back to the Philippines where opportunities are “boundless.”

Consul Belinda Ante explained that Filipinos looking for a source of income in the Philippines—whether through employment or livelihood program—actually have far better chances because of our nation’s “huge market.”

“Unfortunately, there’s not much that we can do at this point. The federal authorities have already spoken,” said Macaraig.

Labor representative Carmelina Velasquez raised concerns about the lack of implementing guidelines that would educate all stakeholders on “how to go about” the final rule.

“With the lack of implementing guidelines, there are a lot of questions that need to be addressed,” she said.

These questions, Velasquez said, include what’s going to happen on Nov. 28 or right after foreign nationals are allowed to stay in the CNMI under the federal law; what happens to U.S. citizen children of foreign workers who remain jobless by Nov. 27 and need to be repatriated; and what will be the role of the local labor office in all this, among others.

While their primary focus at this point is the Filipino workers already in the CNMI, Velasquez noted that the Philippine Department of Labor would need to know as well what the process will be if and when outside workers are hired through a CW permit.

Velasquez also noted their concern in the final rule wherein foreign workers who are voluntarily dismissed from employment will have to shoulder their cost of transportation when going back to their home country.

Macaraig and Velasquez both confirmed that they already asked for a meeting with USCIS representatives to clarify these concerns, with representatives of Filipino organizations joining them in the meeting.

He added that Filipinos on Tinian and Rota will be advised about the results of the meeting as well.

Macaraig pointed out that voluntary repatriation by the Consulate, particularly for elderly and sick Filipinos, has long been ongoing.

He said that with the Philippine government’s own financial shortfall, it has prioritized repatriation for Filipinos in war zones such as the Middle East, which is why a budget request for Filipinos in the CNMI will have to be made.

Velasquez said the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration can provide assistance to Filipinos who do not have employers but are active members with OWWA.

She said Filipino workers on island are estimated at 7,500, with about 3,000 of them active OWWA members.