Including
professionals in GATS talks
Business gives
nod, but gov't not ready to negotiate
By Villy G. Cabuag and Jeremaiah M. Opiniano
OFW Journalism Consortium
Wednesday, 25 June 2003
MANILA - The Philippine government first adopted international labour migration in 1974 as a temporary, stop-gap measure to ease domestic unemployment, poverty, and a struggling financial system.
After 29 years, however, observers think that the international migration of Filipino workers is here to stay - especially in the light of the growing global economy.
As the top supplier of nurses, medical professionals, and merchant marine crew in the world, the Philippines is known as the "world's largest labour-exporting nation", ahead of Mexico which was the previous world leader.
The Philippine government, however, is not quite ready to bite the proverbial bullet that would make overseas labour migration a permanent feature of the economy.
Early this year, Ayala Corporation chief Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala called not only for the inclusion of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the national development agenda, but also for the professionalization of the deployment and even the qualification of overseas workers.
He said the entire system of training, deploying, and securing Filipinos in overseas workplaces "would bring maximum benefits to their families and the nation, while minimizing the social costs".
Zobel de Ayala also called for the adoption and promulgation of an internationally recognized accreditation system where the Philippines "could explore and leverage linkages with highly reputable international institutions for a certification program".
If this approach is pursued, "it will automatically open up more opportunities and lead to increased pay levels, among other things", he said.
Zobel de Ayala stressed the growing importance of international accreditation since other countries are "moving aggressively into overseas employment" and are now trying to learn from the Philippine experience.
"This (labour export) has become our niche in globalization," Zobel de Ayala added.
Businessmen agree that the Philippine government should push for the inclusion of professional services, which will include skilled overseas Filipino workers, in the negotiations over the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) under the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Confederation (PhilExport) and chairman of the Export Bank, says the government is not yet ready to negotiate the matter with the WTO.
"What the government continues to negotiate are agreements in terms of transportation and tourism, but not yet professional services," he said.
"We have been exporting professional services for a long time, and this has become our niche," Ortiz-Luis said, adding that the "export of individual workers is...not maximized by government and the recruitment industry".
According to Ortiz-Luis, the Department of Trade and Industry's (DTI) stand on the GATS is still "not clear", and PhilExport is helping the DTI develop a clear position on the matter.
In a "non-paper" posted on the DTI website, the Bureau of International Trade Relations on the WTO negotiations acknowledges that "current discussions have focused on the fourth mode of delivery of services, that is, the movement of labour, and to some extent on the third mode, commercial presence (which in itself covers the movement of key personnel)".
The document explained that country's current commitments to the WTO "were undertaken generally on a horizontal basis in the areas of financial services (banks, insurance, and securities), transportation, basic telecommunications, and tourism."
The "non-paper" pointed out, however, "that the ongoing mandated services in WTO would most likely require more than what the Philippines committed in 1994 (to the WTO)". In addition, it noted that "constitutional and legislative statutes" tend to "limit the ability of the Philippines to pursue an increasingly international orientation in the field of services".
Noting the country's strength in the exportation of labour, the paper said there needs to be a concerted effort "to mobilize service sectors or industries that capitalize on professional services".
It noted the need to identify and assess which sectors or industries the country will "want to push for liberalization in other countries, and, in return, [which sectors or industries] the Philippines will be able to open to foreign competition in the on-going negotiations".
According to the DTI, among the sectors the Philippines would like to have included in the GATS discussion are film and animation, information technology, management consulting, hotel and restaurant management, health services and professional services. Implementation requires gov't policy shift. For its part, the Department of Labour and Employment (DOLE) recognizes that the implementation of GATS in the country could mean a government policy shift.
"It would mean a more aggressive marketing of the Filipino as a global worker and the Philippines as a human resource center for professionals and skilled workers," said Labour Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas in a speech early this year at the University of Asia and the Pacific.
But the current debate is on whether or not the government should shift its policy from "managing" the flow of overseas migration, which is reactive, to "promoting" labour migration, which is proactive. However, Sto. Tomas said, government is not keen on implementing a change in its current policy, or even in including OFWs into the national development agenda.
"When I was POEA administrator, we never encouraged people to become overseas workers, but the people themselves want to go out," Sto. Tomas said. "You will see for yourself that they (the OFWs) are expanding on their own."
The Philippines has deployed over 800,000 OFWs in the last four years who have sent home over US$6 billion of remittances since 1999. There are over 1,400 agencies that recruit workers for overseas labour markets.
Cyberdyaryo 06-25-03