Pastoral Letter of the Obispo Maximo on the Occasion of the Iglesia Filipina
Independiente's 113th Proclamation Anniversary
"Jesus came to Samaria in a town called Sychar, near the plot of ground
Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he
was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was aboutnoon. When a Samaritan
woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "will you give me a
drink?" The Samaritan woman said to him, "you are a Jew and I am a
Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" Jesus answered her,
"if you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you
would have asked him and he would have given you living water." (John
4:5-10)
The Philippines, for the last 50 years, is a leading nation in sending its own
people as migrant workers overseas. Joblessness, or the lack of adequate
employment, in the country has triggered the diaspora of millions of Filipinos
to many parts of the world.
This diaspora now counts to 15 million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) or
about 10% of the country’s population and approximately a third of the
country's labor force. They are employed as domestic workers, medical
assistants, construction workers, maritime workers, information technology
experts, among other kinds of jobs, in Europe, the Middle East, East Asia,
Australia and North America.
Data from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) state that under
President Benigno Simeon Aquino, the number of OFWs leaving the country has
increased. From the 2,500 Filipinos leaving the country everyday in 2009,
deployment abroad jumped to 6,092 daily in early 2015.
For the last three decades, more women are leaving the country. They are mostly
employed as household workers, where they are vulnerable to exploitative
working conditions. This reflects a gender shift in the nature of labor
migration compared to the 1970s, where mostly male Filipinos left the country
to work in construction firms.
Another recent development is the increase in number of Filipino sea-based
overseas workers. The Philippines is now the biggest provider of seafarers to
international shipping companies. Seafarers compose a special sector of OFWs
sailing the global waters on foreign ships and primarily working as deck hands,
cabin cleaners, engine room machinist and oilers, and cooks aboard tankers,
cargo ships and luxury cruises.
Estimated at around 400,000, the Filipino seafarers is a major sector of OFWs
that contribute to Philippine economy and to global trade. In 2014 alone, the
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said seafarers' remittance reached $5.6 billion.
However, Filipino seafarers are hired for contractual and temporary employment,
receive low wages and suffer from poor labor and safety standards aboard
foreign ships. They suffer from unfair labor practices and exploitation and
left with almost no protection at all from the Philippine government.
Instead of addressing the roots of labor migration, the government
institutionalized exporting its own people and is now a major economic policy
of the state.
OFW remittance greatly contributes to the growth of the Philippine economy. The
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas noted the growth of 6.2 percent increase in OFW
remittance in 2014 at the all-time high of $26.93 billion, breaking the
previous record of of $25.35 billion posted in 2013.
For this, OFWs were hailed as “modern-day heroes” for keeping the country’s
economy afloat at the expense of leaving their families behind to work
overseas. But despite their contributions, the state provided inadequate
support to OFWs. Migrante International, a global alliance of migrant
Filipinos, has long complained of "government’s neglect and
incompetence."
Migrante International said "series of executions of OFWs on death row,
the biggest number so far under one regime, are glaring examples of just how
insincere, insensitive and inept the Aquino government is in upholding and
securing the protection and welfare of our workers overseas, while ironically
also showcasing a more blatant and unapologetic labor export policy that
exploits our OFWs’ cheap labor and influx of remittances but sadly offers them
nothing in return, especially in times of need."
Migrante International documented 123 OFWs on death row and at least 7,000 in
jail, many of whom were arrested, detained and go through court proceedings
without an embassy-retained lawyer or no lawyer at all. OFWs, as a result, are
deprived of due process and go straight to jail without any legal assistance
from the Philippine government.
Stories and narratives of Filipinos in diaspora all point to the same end --
the government has repeatedly failed to show any genuine concern and response
to the plight of OFWs in distress, and abandoning them in times of crisis and
emergency.
The Iglesia Filipina Independiente, as a Church witnessing with migrants, is
concerned with the plight of Filipinos in diaspora and their families left
behind. We commend the sacrifices of migrant workers in behalf of their
families and their contribution to the Philippine society. We share their pain
living in a land far away from their loved ones and working under harsh
conditions. We feel their anguish as they fall victims to various forms of
exploitation, discrimination and rights violations.
Looking at their situation with a perspective of social justice, development,
and human rights, we strongly believe that OFWs plight will worsen and their
rights disregarded as long as the government intensify its labor export policy.
The protection of OFWs' rights and welfare should manifest in the creation of
jobs and just wages in the country, regulated control of the prices of basic
commodities in the domestic market, and the provision of adequate social
services to the poor, which will put a stop to forced migration.
We strongly believe that domestic poverty is the principal factor behind forced
migration. We take our stand that the only way to resolve forced migration -
and the complex web of social and economic conflicts in the country - is to
address the root causes of poverty in the country through genuine land reform
and national industrialization.
The Iglesia Filipina Independiente, therefore, in this regard, opens its doors
for a continuing dialogue with OFWs to become a sacrament of the aspirations of
the Filipinos in diaspora for a Philippine society where families need not be
separated by poverty and social inequality, where labor and persons need not be
commodified in the altar of a globalized capitalist economy and market as
millions of fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, seek
a brighter future for their loved ones.
The Iglesia Filipina Independiente selflessly offers herself as "Church in
service and witness" for and with all the Filipino migrants throughout the
world, and journeys in special solidarity with them towards the promotion of
justice, development and dignity in response to the phenomenon of forced
migration. With this commitment, we will seek the cooperation of Churches in
different parts of the world in serving the Filipinos in diaspora and in
witnessing with them, in the spirit of solidarity and hospitality in the
affirmation of human dignity and the universality of human rights.
The Samaritan woman drawing water from Jacob's well at noon time icons the
millions of mothers and daughters and sisters among Filipino migrant workers
who have left their homes to draw water for their families from a well far from
home. It was the need for water that drives them outside the shelter of their
homes, to carry the heavy potted jar over their heads, walking the distance
under the heat of the scorching noon-time sun.
But the Samaritan woman finds Jesus sitting next to the well. Jesus asks her
for a drink and told her he can make her drink living water. She is expecting
for water but she is offered the living water. This images the dialectic
encounter between our mostly women OFWs with their host country whom they make
to drink from their potted jar, and from whom they draw water for their living.
But Jesus by the well represents the encounter between the Churches overseas
and the Filipino migrants. The image gives expression to Churches welcoming
migrants and offering pastoral and spiritual care to migrants. The challenge of
Christ appearing and revealing himself to the Samaritan woman by the well
serves as the foundation for the mission of the Churches in addressing the
structural phenomenon of global labor migration and in offering solidarity and
hospitality to migrant workers.
Let us, therefore, celebrate the 113th proclamation anniversary of the Iglesia
Filipina Independiente in service to and in witness together with the Filipino
migrant workers in diaspora all over the global world.
In Christ,
The Most Revd Ephraim S. Fajutagana
Obispo Maximo
