True measure of Arroyo’s failure

Press Release
28 February 2009

Rising numbers of unemployed, increasing numbers of Pinoy seeking for work abroad are true measure of Arroyo’s failure – Migrante-ME

An alliance of overseas Filipino workers’ organizations in the Middle East today said the rising numbers of unemployed and the increasing numbers of Pinoy seeking for work abroad are true measures of Arroyo's failure to generate jobs locally.

“Whether OFW deployment figures as reported by POEA is true or not, it does not make sense at all. It only proved the Arroyo regime’s continued failure to generate decent jobs locally,” said John Leonard Monterona, Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator.

Monterona said the 11.2-M unemployed, a significant numbers of which are now forced to look jobs abroad as the only remaining option just to survive their struggling families are true measure of the Arroyo regime’s failure to generate jobs locally. “This is attributed due to its wrong economic policies subservient to neo-liberal policies of globalization,” he added.

Migrante-ME said economic policies that are extremely submissive to deregulation, privatization, and liberalization is driving our local economy, dominated by foreign monopoly-capitalist corporations, to a disadvantage position while “waiting the axe to fall on our heads”.

Monterona said it does not make good if the Arroyo administration continuously peddles millions of unemployed by sending them abroad-- selling their labor cheap and without any guarantee and protection for their safety and security, as their huge remittances is not properly used to develop a self-sufficient economy.

“The billions of OFW remittances are merely used as an “exhaust valve” keeping the economy afloat and to ensure the government has enough dollar reserves for foreign debt services,” Monterona opined.

Migrante-ME said sending 1-M or more OFWs overseas is not a viable labor policy especially at the context of neo-liberal policies of globalization which sole purpose is to corner and siphon the billions of migrant workers remittances through sending governments towards the banks of imperialist countries who dominate international financial institutions.

“The Arroyo regime’s bravado that it got lot of jobs abroad for unemployed Filipinos is only a pretentious display and facade of its own failure to generate jobs locally that it keeps on promising but repeatedly failed,” Monterona ended.

Reference:
John Leonard Monterona
Migrante Middle East regional coordinator
Mobile No.: 00966 564 97 8012