THE continuing illegal recruitment of Filipino to Russia could complicate efforts to secure a Russian amnesty for undocumented workers, the ambassador to Moscow said.
According to a Malacañang statement, Ambassador Carlos D. Sorreta said there were ongoing talks to fast-track a government-to-government labor agreement, which could be endangered by the Philippines’ undocumented-worker problem in Russia.
“Kapag lumalaki lalo ‘yung illegally recruited, ang chances na magkaroon ng amnesty, lumiliit kasi naging masyadong marami ‘yung base na kailangan nilang bigyan ng amnesty (If the numbers of the illegally recruited rise, the chances for an amnesty diminish because they will have to amnesty more people),” he said.
“Kung gusto na natin ng labor agreement, kailangan itigil ‘yung illegal… Kailangan pakita natin sa Russian government na marunong tayo sumunod sa batas. Respetuhin natin ang mga proseso dahil habang wala — habang hindi nangyayari ‘yan, ang hirap po mag-negotiate ng agreement (If we want a labor agreement, we need to stop the flow of illegals. We need to demonstrate to the Russian government that we know how to follow the law. We should respect the process because until that happens, it will be hard to negotiate an agreement),” he added.
President Rodrigo R. Duterte has been seeking a bilateral agreement with the Russian Federation. Most Filipinos in Russia are household service workers, with the market having no legal framework to govern it, though demand is high.
“Filipinos here in Russia are largely in the household sector. Mostly childcare and household service and in terms of number we have about 10,000. And most of them are not properly documented yet. So we’re working to get there,” he said. — Gillian M. Cortez
