OROQUIETA City -Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) has conducted a Community Education Program (CFP) in Misamis Occidental to disseminate information regarding migration and its related issues including inter-marriage, human trafficking and illegal recruitment.
In an interview, Kimberly Joy Dizon, senior emigrant services officer said that CFO travels the country annually to identify cities and provinces to conduct CFP. The said program is proposed for Filipinos who desire to migrate to other countries.
This year the CFO included Misamis Occidental, particularly the cities of Tangub and Oroquieta and the municipalities of Clarin and Plaridel due to an increasing number of immigrants coming from the province.
Misamis Occidental has 3,387 total numbers of immigrants from year 1988 up to 2008 with a record of 277 total numbers of immigrants for the year 2008 only. The top three sending places are Ozamiz, Oroquieta and Tangub in the province.
Republic Act 8239 and Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Order 28-94, Filipinos proceeding abroad as fiancé(e)s and spouses of foreign nationals are required to attend the CFO's guidance and counseling programs as a pre-requisite to the issuance of passports.
The objective of this program is to help Filipino fiancé(e)s and spouses of foreign nationals make informed decisions regarding their marriage to foreign nationals and to prepare them for their adjustments in cross-cultural marriages.
Among others, Filipino fiancé(e)s and spouses are provided with the information on Migration laws affecting them; Welfare and support services available abroad; Rights of migrants overseas; and Coping up with problematic or difficult domestic situations.
Dizon added that United States of America, Canada and Japan are the major countries destination of the immigrants from Misamis Occidental.
Manolo Villablanca Tibe, emigrant services officer II and a member of Task Force Against Human Trafficking said that CFO extends help to the Filipino immigrants being abused by their spouses.
“Pag-may mga kaso ng abuses, maltreatment these are being reported to the CFO and we assist then either in repatriation or filing of cases against their spouses and then we black lists these foreigners kasi pag-ganyan madali lang sila makakuha ng divorce,” Tibe added.
The work of CFO is conducted under a program framework of activities to serve Filipino communities overseas. This framework consists of the following four program areas: Migrant Social and Economic Integration, Filipino Education and Heritage, Filipino Unity and National Development and Policy Development and Data Banking.
Migrant Social and Economic Integration aims to ensure that all Filipinos migrating to other countries are adequately prepared to meet the practical and psychological problems attendant to international migration. This will also undertake activities designed to provide Filipino emigrants with adequate structured information and advice about all aspects of migration to their countries of destination, as well as assistance in achieving early social and economic adjustment within their new environment.
This programme also provides for a continuing linkage with registered Filipino migrants, and a means by which migrants can be assisted by cooperating organizations in the process of adjustment and settlement in their host countries.
It will also assist in promoting and facilitating the reintegration of returning migrants into the Filipino national mainstream. (Mae Delarmente, Neptalie Batolenio)
No comments:
Post a Comment