Inter Press Service - December 11, 2001
Marites Sison

Many of the would-be overseas workers in the group were barely in their 20s and the rest no more than 25 years old, yet another batch of workers preparing to leave the Philippines, one of the world's largest exporters of labour, to take up work in different continents.

They listened intently as five former overseas workers and one woman talked about dreams for a better future that were rudely interrupted by HIV/AIDS, in a pre-departure seminar held to mark international migrants' day on Dec. 18.

When he first left for Saudi Arabia, nobody warned him about HIV/AIDS, recalled Jonathan, who had worked overseas for 14 years, eight of the as a seafarer.

When HIV/AIDS was first documented in the 1980s, he thought himself an unlikely candidate for it, Jonathan said. He had his goals all figured out, avoided all vices and risky sexual behaviour all his life.

"I was just like you, I had dreams," he told the crowd at the auditorium of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), venue of the seminar sponsored by the non-government Action for Health Initiatives (Achieve).

A product of a chaotic household with 15 children, Jonathan said he had endured all the hardships of being an overseas worker "for the sake of my family".

He had deprived himself of any luxuries and took on many odd jobs apart from his regular one because his dream was to unite his family, provide them with a decent home and star this own business in the Philippines.

Soon, however, he found out that all the money he had sent home to purchase a house and lot were simply appropriated by his siblings and relatives. "My co-workers would be envious of me because I would always receive tons of letters. They didn't know they were always asking for money," he said.

"I wanted to commit suicide. I wanted to jump in the Atlantic Ocean, if only I wasn't afraid of sharks," he said, after coming home empty- handed and having to leave the country again when he already had his eyes set on retirement.

Frustrated, he chose the path of self-destruction. "From being a saint before, I turned into a devil. I did everything -- booze, gambling, women, even men," he added.

Soon, he had acquired HIV. "If I only respected and valued myself, maybe things would have turned out differently," Jonathan said.

Still, he is striking back at HIV/AIDS by becoming a health educator and caregiver for Positive Action Foundation Inc, a non-government group.

Malu Garin, executive director of Achieve, says that HIV/AIDS education is especially needed by overseas workers and their families. Of about 1,600 HIV/AIDS cases reported in the Philippines, 25 to 17 percent are migrant workers.

Wives are also getting HIV through their husbands -- and a key factor in this has been the Filipino wife's inequality in negotiating matters of sex.

Such was the case with Arlene, whose husband died of AIDS last year. "It's painful to be diagnosed with HIV," Arlene, who is in her early 50s, said, her voice quavering.

She said that she and her husband had never used condoms and it had never occurred to her that he would have a sexually-transmitted disease and that he would unknowingly pass it on to her. "I was just so excited to see him. Having unprotected sex was the only way I could feel his love," she said.

When she found out that both of them were HIV-positive, Arlene said, their relationship became so strained it reached a point they were fighting about who was going to take ginseng, which they thought would help ease HIV.

"I told him it had to be me because I was his victim," she recalled. Arlene added that while she struggles to forgive her husband "for throwing our future away", she is busy making plans for their only son.

At the same time, Garin cautions against "stigmatising" migrant workers as HIV/AIDS carriers, saying that the high percentage could also be due to the mandatory testing that they undergo before they are allowed to work abroad.

The Philippines has a law banning mandatory HIV/AIDS testing, but most host countries require it prior to employment. "This is a violation of their human rights and we are asking our government to stress this to receiving countries at a policy level," Garin argued.

Still, Garin acknowledged the vulnerability that overseas workers have to HIV. "The separation and loneliness forces many of them to construct a different reality abroad. They have needs for warmth, sexuality and friendship. The needs are not always sexual but it sometimes leads to their being infected," she said.

Undocumented workers are in greater peril, Garin adds. "Often, economic pressures are so strong that some of them become sex workers or enter into relationships with locals to survive."

Most overseas workers also have no access to health care for a variety of reasons: the high cost of going to a doctor, the fear of being sent home if found sick or pregnant, the pressure of sending money home instead of spending it on oneself, and the lack of health consciousness.

Others are unable to go to a doctor simply because their day off falls on a Sunday, when clinics are closed. Undocumented workers are also harder to reach because most "have no mobility, no freedom", Garin added.

Garin said the government is studying the possibility of setting up a health clinic in embassies and consulates to address this long-ignored need.

To date there is no data on health problems suffered by overseas Filipinos abroad, or those who have returned for good.

Garin also stressed the need for pre-test and post-test counseling, and a more humane approach to the issue of disclosure. "More often than not, the agency knows before the worker does that he or she is HIV- positive. And then the worker is left on his or her own," she said.

"Health is a human right. It must be seen as a priority. If you have no good health, you have no worker," Garin said.

She added that it is disturbing to note how overseas Filipino workers leave healthy, but some come home very sick and are absorbed back into the system that used to laud them as heroes for bringing in the dollars -- but now sees them as a burden.

Celia, who plans to work as a performing artist in Tokyo, said she is glad she attended the seminar because "at least we have been warned". John, a musician, said he was afraid of the risks -- but "I will still take my chances."

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