By Chloe Mari A. Hufana, Reporter
THE Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) on Tuesday sought a unified approach to address the challenges faced by undocumented Filipinos in the US as fears of mass deportations loom under President Donald J. Trump.
“We strongly advocate for a unified coherent response, ranging from legal assistance to reintegration services, not only to enable the government to effectively oversee these initiatives but also to empower our countrymen with a one-stop shop for accessible and comprehensive services,” TUCP Vice-President Luis C. Corral said in a statement.
The group sought the creation of an inter-agency body to coordinate efforts among government agencies, civil society and Filipino organizations in the US to support about 370,000 undocumented Filipinos at risk of deportation.
The Department of Migrant Workers, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Trade and Industry and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority are among the government agencies tasked with overseeing the matter.
“The Philippine government will always be ready to assist our countrymenif ever the speculation of mass deportation will indeed be done by the new US administration,” Labor secretary Bienvenido E. Laguesma told BusinessWorld in a Viber message.
Mr. Corral said it would help returning overseas Filipino workers to reintegrate not just through employment facilitation but also through public employment programs.
Josue Raphael J. Cortez, a lecturer at De La Salle-College of St. Benilde’s School of Diplomacy and Governance, said the strategy should involve the government, private sector and civil society.
Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel G. Romualdez and embassy staff should coordinate efforts to help Filipinos in the US, he added.
Grassroot groups may have a better chance to get in touch with the families of these undocumented Filipinos and could provide inputs on how to best facilitate their return to the Philippines, Mr. Cortez said.
“In this regard, given that the primary issue for them to move abroad is to gain better job opportunities, then public-private collaborations and dialogue may be undertaken as soon as possible,” he added.
Filipinos in the US considering repatriation may be encouraged to return sooner if livelihood opportunities are available when they come home, he pointed out.
Benjamin B. Velasco, an assistant professor at the University of the Philippines Diliman School of Labor and Industrial Relations, said the potential mass deportation is contrary to Manila’s national interest as a labor-sending nation.
“Deportation only leads to family separation and human suffering,” he said in a Facebook Messenger chat. “Many undocumented Filipinos belong to mix-status families.”
“To face the consequences of Trump 2.0, we need to ramp up public employment and develop an industrial policy,” he said, adding that the first should be an immediate response, while the second is a strategic policy.
Mr. Velasco said start with the Philippine government taking a more active role in economic planning and development.
“We’ve let the private sector lead the economy and the result is persistent unemployment, underemployment and labor migration,” he said. “Public sector-led industrialization is what is needed to address the root causes of underdevelopment.”
He said American unions, migrant organizations and civil society allies have resisted Mr. Trump’s mass deportation policy.
“Definitely, we are not facing the prospect of hundreds of thousands of undocumented Filipinos forcibly deported back here,” he said. “Nonetheless, we should embark on a path of a public sector-led development that provides decent jobs and protects the environment, with or without Trump and others like him.”
Mr. Trump was sworn in as the 47th US president on Jan. 20. One of his key campaign promises was to intensify border security and deport undocumented immigrants.
He kicked off his White House return with a sweeping immigration crackdown, tasking the American military with aiding border security, issuing a broad ban on asylum and taking steps to restrict citizenship for children born on US soil, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
The first American president to be convicted of a felony, he declared illegal immigration a national emergency. He ordered the Pentagon, the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, to support border wall construction, detention space and migrant transportation, and empowered his Defense secretary to send troops to the border if needed.
