MIGRANTE International yesterday assailed the latest ad campaign of the Philippine government shown in London, saying it fortifies the forced labor export policy of the Marcos administration.
The bus advertisement shows a picture of Filipina nurse May Parsons and says, “The nurse who gave the world’s first COVID-19 vaccine. A Filipina. We give the world our best. The Philippines.”
Sen. Nancy Binay has questioned the ad campaign, saying it may imply that the Philippines is a labor-exporting country that treats its people as a commodity.
The OFW group Migrante, in a statement, said the “new country brand glorifies brain drain, and the exit from the country of many educated, skilled, and intelligent Filipinos.”
“We reject the slogan as it can only mean heightened forced labor export and maintaining the rotten status quo in the country,” it added.
The group also warned more Filipinos may be subjected to abuses and rights violations from foreign employers.
“The Marcos regime slogan talks to international audiences in order to sell cheap Filipino labor,” said Migrante.
Migrante said it only means that the government will just rely on OFW remittances instead of working to develop local industries and employ more Filipinos.
“More than 10 million Filipinos are working abroad because the country’s government has created an economy with widespread low-quality jobs, unemployment, and poverty,” it said.
