TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, July 20 (PIA) – The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) conducted their Community Education Program (CEP) on Migration in Bohol to provide orientations for beneficiaries of government-promoted cultural exchange program on the customs, traditions, and social graces of living overseas.
During a Kapihan sa PIA interview, CFO Executive Director and Undersecretary Valery Brion shared that Boholanos rank high among their clients.
Brion said their annual program assists prospective migrants in making informed decisions regarding settlement abroad and trigger community engagement on migration issues and concerns.
The CFO handles Pre Departure Orientation Seminars (PDOS) to migrating Filipinos.
While the Department of Migrant Workers conduct a one-day mandatory PDOS to guide first time overseas Filipino workers on the relevant and possibly custom-fit information they would need to succeed in their new work environment in the country of destination, the CFO takes care of the PDOS for Filipino emigrants or those leaving the country to settle permanently abroad.
As these people are required to register with the CFO so the country’s authorities could keep track of their migrants, CFO PDOS or Peer Counseling Session for 13 to 19 years old discusses travel regulations, immigration procedures, cultural differences, settlement concerns, employment and social security concerns, and rights and obligations of Filipino migrants.
Their PDOS is for emigrants aged 20-59 years old who are petitioned by parents, siblings, Filipino spouses or immediate relatives, and independent applicants.
According to the CFO, they have facilitated the PDOS of 2,189 young Boholanos on cultural exchange program under the au pair.
This makes Bohol the number one client for au pairs, according to Eumarlo Tolosa, CFO senior emigration officer.
Another 15,500 Boholanos passed through the CFO for their orientation as work emigrants.
The au pair program, which the Philippines engages with other host countries, allows young adults from the Philippines to come and work in a destination country for families who need help in child-care and minor household chores.
By enrolling in an au pair program, young adults aged 18 to below 30 can live with a family and work on a flexible schedule doing home chores, child care, and exchange cultural knowledge while getting paid with a weekly stipend.
On the other hand, CFO also attended to the PDOS and facilitation of emigrating Boholanos who are on cultural exchange programs like student scholarships for a year or two, individuals who are marrying abroad, or who have been petitioned by parents to permanently live abroad.
The CFO also engages communities to act on trafficking in persons, which is a global crime against humanity.
Also called “modern day slavery,” trafficking in persons has been a source of abuse, and the Philippines is in the middle of the global concern as it has been identified as a source, transit point or destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of labor and sexual exploitation.
By simply recruiting, hiring, offering, transporting, harboring, persons, from across national or international boundaries without the victim’s consent or knowledge, trafficking in persons can be done by threat, force, coercion or fraud and deception, taking advantage of the vulnerability of the person, to enslave for exploitation, prostitution, forced labor or slavery, and even for the harvesting of vital organs. (RAHC/PIA-7 Bohol)
