Liza Maza off to Hong Kong to Consult with Migrants re POEA Guidelines

Gabriela Women's Partylist Representatve Liza Largoza Maza  will meet with migrant workers in  Hong Kong to consult them on what actions to take to push the government to scrap the new POEA guidelines which she described as  " pure and simple money making venture" at the expense of millions of Filipino domestic helpers around the globe.

"The POEA guidelines or the Supermaid program is a heartless exercise
by a government insensitive to the needs of its citizens abroad.
Worse, the Supermaid program is obviously designed to enable the
government to earn  a quick buck" Maza said.  She also  added, "
Forcing even veteran domestic helpers to shell out some P12,000
ostensibly  for "training, is preposterous, especially if one takes
into consideration the number of OFWs  used and abused without getting
any substantial help from the government. "

The Gabriela Solon further remarked that  "While the Arroyo government
is set to extort more money from OFWs through the new guidelines, on
the other hand, it seems that  it has accepted rape and other forms of
violence against overseas Filipina workers as normal occurrences  as
evident by  its continuous disregard  for  the plight of the victims.
One wonders  if it is  already  a policy of the state to ignore the
migrant victims of rape and other abuses. "

Maza said that there  are daily reports of OFWs, most of them, women,
who were victims of rape, of human trafficking but which the
government refuses to help because the victims are "unregistered."
"But registered or not, it is the duty of the government to protect
its citizens abroad." She concluded.

Maza will be meeting with representatives of United Filipinos in Hong
Kong who are among the groups opposed to the POEA guidelines  .
Earlier, Maza filed a resolution in Congress urging an investigation
of the POEA guidelines.##