Psych tests will protect OFWs - DFA official

MANILA, Philippines – “Weng" was devoid of any emotions when she arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport last week from Jordan. As the cameras of news photographers flashed, the 26-year-old domestic helper from Bulacan kept her eyes on the floor and hugged a small teddy bear. “Ano gagawin niyo? Kukunin nyo ‘yung teddy bear ko? Ayoko sabihin kung kanino galing. Ayoko ibigay (What will you do to me? Are you getting my teddy bear? I don’t want to say where it’s from. I wont give it)," Weng said as journalists tried to interview her. Across the room, “Lina," 24, couldn’t name any close relative, which made it more difficult for Philippine officials to trace her kin. “I can’t say much," she said in Filipino as she shied away from an interview. “ I’m fearing for my life." Lina and Weng were among 37 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) repatriated last week who ran away from their employers after experiencing various abuses. An embassy official said, however, that unlike the rest of the OFW repatriates, Lina and Weng are possibly suffering from delusions. In recent years, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) had received recommendations from Philippine missions in the Middle East to require incoming Filipino household service workers to undergo psychological tests. On one hand, the request has been probably triggered by the recent spate of cases of runaway Filipino workers who are said to have been unable to adjust to life in the Middle East. On the other hand, the proposal might have been caused by fears from employers who have heard of news of “unstable" Filipino domestic helpers who have killed their employers. Such was the case of Jakatia Mandon Pawa, a 31-year-old domestic helper from Zamboanga del Norte, who has been sentenced by a Kuwaiti court to die after she slit the throat of her employer’s daughter. News reports from Kuwait said the victim was asleep at dawn of May 14, 2007 in the Al Qurain district, south of Kuwait City, when she was killed. Pawa was reported to be seriously injured when she jumped from the second floor of her employer's house after the attack. She was admitted at the intensive care unit of a hospital for several days. "God knows I didn't do anything," she said in Filipino last July. DFA spokesperson Claro Cristobal refused to speculate on the matter but told GMANews.TV that the proposed mandatory psychological test is only aimed at protecting the welfare of OFWs abroad. “The psychological test is aimed at checking whether or not the coping mechanism of Filipino workers is well," Cristobal said. “Even DFA and embassy officials undergo a mandatory psychological test before we are deployed to other countries. It is needed simply because it is very stressful overseas," he added. The proposed mandatory psychological test received flak from various migrant workers’ groups who demanded that proponents be made to take the same examination first to determine who is the real loon. “What a loony solution!" said Migrante International spokesperson Garry Martinez. “The tests are discriminatory against departing domestic workers (and) the psychiatric tests are (an) additional burden to OFWs and another reason for government to exact unreasonable fees from us." The group on Tuesday trooped to the DFA national headquarters to warn Undersecretary Esteban Conejos Jr., head of the DFA’s Office of Migrant Workers Affairs, against implementing the tests. “The psych test is indicative of what Conejos will bring to the upcoming GFMD in October. The government will merely play lip service to protecting and empowering migrants," said Martinez. When asked about the group’s statements, Conejos told GMANews.TV in a text message: “I already stated the rationale behind our proposal. I have nothing more to add." - GMANews.TV