Labor group approves of Chinese workers entering PH

A local labor group sees nothing wrong with Chinese workers seeking employment in the Philippines.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) told INQUIRER.net that like overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), Chinese nationals who chose to come to the country to work “are sacrificing so much in the search for greener pastures.”

“We must clarify that we are not against the free movement of labor. Chinese workers legal or not are not different from our own OFWs who are sacrificing so much in the search for greener pastures,” BMP said.

Earlier, a Senate panel held an inquiry on the influx of illegal Chinese workers in the country.

READ: Senate to probe influx of illegal Chinese workers

Meanwhile, the BMP said its “immediate demand” for the previous administration was to address the unemployment of more than 2.1 million Filipinos “because this has been its backlog since 2016 despite the promises of employment opportunities.

“But we believe that the real numbers of unemployed workers are way higher specially with the policy of contractualization and consistently rising underemployment rates the past decade,” BMP said.

The BMP noted that the government’s annual target to generate 1 million jobs annually “has never been achieved.”

“The current system is flawed because while it allows the unbridled flow of capital amongst corporations, banks and other financial institutions across nations and  continents but places heavy restrictions and penalties on the flow of labor,” the BMP said.  /muf