The Migrant Workers Act of 1995
The much-publicized execution of Flor Contemplacion, a Filipino
domestic helper in Singapore, drew public outcry and condemnation. By no
means was Contemplacion the first overseas worker to be arrested,
incarcerated and executed. Advances in media technology have magnified
the harsh realities of migrant labor. At that time, overseas workers were
remitting US$3.5 billion dollars5 to the country annually. President Aquino
would later call them the country’s “modern-day heroes” for helping
strengthen the economy and boosting national growth.
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Central Bank of the Philippines.
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In 1995, amid calls for a more proactive government action, the
Philippine Congress enacted the Migrant Workers and Other Overseas
Filipinos Act, two years after the Philippines signed the UN Convention on
Migrant Workers and Members of their Families.6
The Migrant Workers Act
improved governance in migration: it created an Office of the Undersecretary
for Migrant Workers Affairs in the Department of Foreign Affairs to help
provide onsite legal assistance to workers and to establish an assistanceto-nationals
fund. The law adopted a “one-country team approach,” placing
all labor and welfare attaché services under the supervision of the Head of
Mission or the Ambassador.