Since the
early 1900s, Filipinos have been part of the international
labor market--mainly for their skills in farm and
factory work and blue-collar services--especially
in the United States and neighboring Asian countries.
With the expansion of the market, especially in
the Seventies and Eighties, what used to be a male-dominated
labor force was eventually joined by women, giving
rise to the so-called “feminization of migration”.
Apart from the demand for construction workers and
seamen, there were jobs for domestic helpers and
entertainers, female medical practitioners, nurses
and caregivers, among others, in the international
labor market, opening up opportunities for Filipino
women overseas.
While a large number of women have taken advantage
of such opportunities to earn in foreign currencies
for their families, an inordinate proportion of
these go to Japan as “entertainers”,
lured by the call in that market for dancers and
singers. They are what the Philippine government
calls “Overseas Performing Artists”
or OPAs.
Records of the Philippine Overseas Employment
Administration (POEA) show that of late, Japan
has become one of the top five destination countries
of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). Since 1996,
there has been an increasing trend in the deployment
of OFWs to Japan reaching 77,870 in 2002.
A large percentage of these workers are women
OPAs. In 2002 alone, POEA recorded that out of
the 73,246 OFW deployment to Japan, 69,896 women
went as OPAs.
Although OPAs have been sent to other countries,
the numbers are not as large as those sent to
Japan. Out of 73,685 Filipino OPAs deployed in
2003, only 439 went to work in other countries;
the rest went to work in Japan.
Vulnerability of OPAs
The feminization of migration has brought to
the fore the vulnerability of women migrants to
exploitation and abuse in their work places, especially
the domestic workers and OPAs in Hong Kong, Japan,
Singapore and the Middle East. In 2002, some 1,051
female migrants filed complaints with the National
Labor Relations Commission (NLRC).
With the increase in the numbers of Japan-bound
workers, there has been a notable increase in
OFW remittances from that country. From $157,839
in January to April 2002, remittances from Japan
went up to $197,150 in the same period in 2003,
a 24.91% increase. Filipino migrants in Japan
are now the third largest group of OFWs propping
up the Philippine economy.
In 1991, the controversy surrounding the mysterious
death of Maricris Sioson highlighted the plight
of Filipino women in Japan. Maricris Sioson was
19 years old when she worked as an OPA in a club
in Fukushima, Japan. Like many OPAs, she lived
in a cramped room together with the other entertainers
and was made to go out on dates with her Japanese
customers. She was physically confined and monitored
by her strict Japanese employer who has connections
with the Yakuza. Despite signs of physical abuse
on Maricris’ body, the authorities discounted
the possibility of foul play. No one came out
to share what he or she knew about Maricris’
death.
After Maricris’ death, however, the Philippine
government began a review of its policies and
implemented reforms in its deployment program
to provide a mantle of protection for Filipino
migrant workers.
However, government records show that Filipino
women working in Japan remain unprotected. Many
Filipino OPAs in Japan who are contracted to work
as singers and dancers in performance venues are
subjected to employment contract violations, such
as being forced to do “hostessing”
work, delayed payment/underpayment/non-payment
of wages and overtime pay, non-coverage of workers’
insurance, sexual harassment at the work site,
non-implementation of rest days, forced dating
with customers or dohan, and their transfer from
one venue to another--a practice known as rebooking
or flying booking.
Given the nature of their work, many of these
women eventually get emotionally involved with
their customers and bear their children with the
promise of marriage that in most cases, are not
fulfilled. The few relationships between OPAs
and their Japanese customers that have led to
marriage have not lasted longer than a few months
or years.
In the period 1989 to 2001, next to the US, Japan
had the second largest number of nationals with
registered Filipino fiancées or spouses.
Out of 63,676 registered fiancées/spouses
with Japanese partners, 99% or 63,095 were females.
Also worth noting is the fact that most of these
relationships began in the work place, most probably
in bars and clubs in Japan where a large number
of Filipino women work as OPAs.
The problematic work conditions of Filipino women
OPAs contribute greatly to their vulnerability.
In the first six months of 2003, the Overseas
Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) post in
Osaka received a total of 118 complaints from
women OPAs, particularly, about their poor working
conditions on-site. In Tokyo, the OWWA has reported
cases of death and imprisonment of Filipino women
workers.
Because of their employment conditions, many
Filipino OPAs eventually become undocumented,
even if they came to the country legally. Unwilling
or unable to comply with the unexpected demands
and workload in their workplace, some women escape
from these establishments, leaving their documents
behind, and thus become undocumented.
The Department of Foreign Affairs’ Office
of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs
(DFA-OUMWA) has received reports of OPAs in Japan
running away from their employers and overstaying.
At a conference held on January 22, 2003 in Tokyo
organized by the Asia Foundation and the International
Labor Organizations on trafficking into Japan,
it was revealed that an estimated 220,000 foreign
workers are overstaying in the said country, most
of them South Koreans, but 14% of whom are from
the Philippines.
Overstaying is not only illegal, it is also the
cause for a wide range of social problems encountered
by Filipino women in Japan. Overstaying Filipino
OPAs make themselves even more vulnerable to crime,
exploitation, sexual abuse, and other problems.
The reported cases and complaints by women OPAs
in Japan are not mere violations of their contracts,
they are violations of human rights that must
be looked into by concerned sectors in both countries.
A haven for human traffickers
Japan is “a haven for human traffickers
given its lax laws and its rich economy”.
This was how Omaira Rivera, a social worker at
the Embassy of Colombia in Tokyo, described that
country where not only Filipino women have fallen
victims to various forms of trafficking.
Sally Cameron, a researcher who participated
in a study of human trafficking in Japan, cited
the following reasons why Japan has become a destination
country for human trafficking
- a relatively high level of disposable money
in Japan than in most Asian countries;
- the absence of significant alternative legal
routes for immigrant employment in Japan;
- the tolerance by the authorities of self-regulated
adult entertainment and prostitution allows
for significant space within which traffickers
can operate; and
- non-recognition by public authorities of
the concept of “victimhood” and
coercion, which considers women as having voluntarily
participated in the trafficking process.
At round table discussions with industry leaders
and NGOs organized by the Philippine Overseas
Employment Administration (POEA) in May and July
2002, it was pointed out that the tradition of
the geisha culture in Japan has evolved into a
more commercial form, where young, sexy women
performers have become the most desirable feature
of entertainment venues, giving rise to a great
demand for guest relations officers, hostesses,
escorts and prostituted women.
This commercialization of Japanese culture is
another contributing factor to the vulnerability
of women OPAs to various forms of trafficking
in Japan.
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