Straight from the shoulder

A candid interview with Labor Attaché Atty. Reynaldo Regalado (Second of two parts)

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Tungkol naman po sa opening para sa caregivers na palagi sa diyaryo, totoo ba?

I think we have been over-discussing this. Tungkol sa possibilities diyan, we have to go back to the classification. Skilled labor ba siya? Mahirap. Hindi rin siya regular work. Specialist in humanities? Hindi rin. Designated activity ba siya? Hindi rin. Saan siya papasok? Kailangan ma-classify siya as a separate category, justify as skilled labor or papasukin under a traineeship arrangement. So caregiver as it is hindi mo makikita yan.

I reacted to all the news that’s why I called TESDA and POEA. Mahaba pang kuwento yan….

So hindi talaga puwedeng pumasok under that category?

Hindi papasok pa kaagad-agad nang ganyan. Tingnan mo ang nasa diyaryo—nag-i-increase sila ngayon ng premium ng health insurance. There are fiscal responses to the graying society--mabigat nang dalhin in the next years. Kung baga sa SSS ngayon, hirap na hirap daw magbigay ng calamity loan, dahil wala nang mapagkuhanan from the basket. Kapag magkaroon sila ng pera, they may be able to open other options aside from getting foreign caregivers--having higher salary for Japanese nationals, having cooperative arrangement for daycare or nightcare for the elderly, etc. Options are open. Pag tinanong tayo, okey may pangangailangan for health care. Pero hindi ibig sabihin ang automatic na sagot ay foreign caregivers.

Tungkol naman sa (information technology) IT market…

IT has long been open. If you are a computer engineer, you can come in as IT engineer. Puwede rin pumasok sa category ng skilled labor. So one can come in as IT even if he’s not an engineer.

Please comment on reports na nagsususpindi raw kayo ng promoters arbitrarily at inaayos na lang dito sa opisina n’yo sa Tokyo without the knowledge of POEA.

May adjustment na tayo ngayon because POEA came up with rules. For 6 to 9 months nagkaroon ng mga court cases na naipit ang deployment. Because of the deregulation, certain functions were shifted here. And one of the functions shifted here is verification in regard to the existence of the employer, its capacity to pay and to maintain the terms and condition. POEA of course has another way of checking these. It is never easy in this industry. Once nag-usap kayo doon at dito, at naipit ‘yung bata sa gitna, wala kaming pamamaraan. Wala kaming actual suspension. When we learn of a problem, we call the promoters. Tapos hindi naman sinu-suspend kaagad kundi pinatitigil muna sandali yong papel, “Explain these.” Pag walang ground, tuloy lang yan in 1~3 days. Kung may grounds, takbo kami ng POEA and then we request them for a proper suspension arrangement. Once they get suspended there, then we suspend them here. We just have to ensure that the manner is clear. Hindi tutuong na-lift, dahil hindi naman na-suspend. They were just put on hold. Katulad ngayon may nagsubmit sa amin dito na 6 clubs. Tatlo doon sarado na pero lumusot sa Immigration. Saan dadalhin yan ngayon? I have knowledge na may problema. Hindi ko maitakbo sa POEA at pati ang agency doon ay nag-certify na ayos sila. At tapos pati ang mga bata na nandito na ay umaamin na sila ay okey at doon sila nagtatrabaho, when in fact they are not there.

Naiintindihan namin na ang pangunahing katungkulan ay sa mga documented workers, dahil sila ang nasa jurisdiction mo having gone through POEA. How do you view the undocumented workers?

We are supposed to equally attend to them. Noong unang dumating tayo, at kahit ngayon, in the Filipino community, may resistance na isama ang mga kababayan natin na hindi dokumentado. When we started to federate workers in the 1990s, we included the undocumented workers, like those in Yokohama. At that time mas mahirap gawin yun. So the effort is on how to first try to legitemize them, in the sense of providing them benefits that are almost equal to their legal counterparts.

This issue is important in view of the absentee voting bill.

Sa pagbalik ko, ako ang pinagconduct ng public hearing sa absentee voting at sa dual citizenship dahil ako yong may administratve experience. Kung makikita mo sa final bill that is in the Senate, to the credit of the the Filipinos in Japan, marami ang nanggaling dito. They were very impressed with the kind of community we have here. Irrespective of visa category, they’re supposed to vote. Sa constitution ito, there is no requirement on property o ano…. Tungkol sa passport, ako pini-presume ko na lahat tayo may passport. Lahat tayo umalis eh, so lahat tayo may passport. It was pointed out that passport can become a property requirement dahil babayad ka nito.

Closing statement n’yo po for the readers.

Message ko sa Philippines Today… You’ve gotten better, pati yong content. Kailangan magbasa sila (mga Pilipino sa Japan) ng ganitong klaseng mga laman ng babasahin to raise their level of awareness. It’s your challenge papaano nila babasahin.

Oo, sa mga matagal ng nagbabasa ng pahayagang ito at sa matatagal nang nagtatratrabaho, una pasasalamat. Dahil sa kanila, napakadali ang pagpasok natin sa ibat-ibang uri ng trabaho. Pati yong mga lugar na hindi madaling pasukin ay napapasok natin dahil sa klase ng ipinakita nila noong nakaraang mga taon. For the newcomers naman, I think they should get inspiration from the achievements ng mga naunang kababayan.

Being Filipino means so much. You should conduct youself in the most appropriate manner so that pati ang iyong mga kababayan ay mahihigitan mo pa ang achievement sa magagandang bagay. *

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