Press Release
April 13, 2009

Press statement of Senator Loren Legarda

ON CHA-CHA

I appeal to my colleagues in Congress, particularly in the House of Representatives, to set aside their move to push through a resolution to amend the Constitution during the remaining two months of the current regular session.

We have many urgent problems awaiting immediate solutions. Among these is the problem of mounting unemployment as thousands of our workers have lost their jobs both at home and abroad, and thousands more are to be laid off. We have to find jobs for them.

Other problems are the persistent poverty and hunger among a growing number of our population, the rising criminality and vigilante cases, widespread and unbridled corruption, increasing prices of electric power and commodities, the unabated insurgency and the hostage situation.

Let us set aside personal and political motives for the common good.

FOREIGN JOBS

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's sortie to Dubai in search of jobs even as the construction boom in the Middle East City turns to bust is illustrative of the global economic situation. The administration should face the reality that the traditional markets for foreign jobs are shrinking because of the global financial meltdown.

It will take perhaps several years before the foreign markets for immigrant labor will open up. When they do the doors may not be as wide open as they have been before. Our only solution to the problem is to open up more job opportunities at home by redirecting our economic strategy toward industrialization and local satisfaction of home consumption. The United States, China and Europe are pursuing this route of nationalist development to help their nationals.

Now is the time for various sectors, including government, labor, business, professionals and the rest of civil society, to gather in a multi-sectoral assembly to discuss new economic strategies and directions to deal with the problem.

ON SOMALI PIRACY

The Department of Foreign Affairs should exert more efforts to free the Filipino seamen who have become hostages of Somali pirates. The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) should also help families of these seamen to tide them over while they are still under detention. According to news reports, of THE 250 seamen being held hostage by the pirates, the Filipinos constitute the biggest number at 92.

This only goes to show that Filipinos are among the most desperate and the most eager to accept hard and risky jobs just to survive and be able to feed their families. But this does not mean that our government should just abandon them to their fates. The DOF and OWWA should explore all possibilities to secure their freedom and help their families. The DOF should LIKEWISE seek the help of other countries IF NECESSARY in performing its duty to protect our unfortunate compatriots.

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