No increase in hours, no control on immigration and no to nannies’ fears

No increase in hours, no control on immigration and no to nannies’ fears

CONSUL GENERAL JUNEVER MAHILUM-WEST SPEAKS:

CONGEN Junever Mahilum-West at the Consulate during the interview. PHOTO: B. PAEZ

TORONTO–A cacophony of children’s voices, adult chatter and the booming sound of background TV greet you as you push through the throng of people waiting for their turn. Families with their children in tow, and other individuals wait to be processed for passport renewals, dual citizenship requests, absentee voting registrations and other concerns.

The waiting room of the Philippine Consulate in Toronto, which accommodates 35 seats, is packed. And with only two windows open for service, the waiting time can crawl beyond half an hour. They serve an average of 200 persons each day. The steady flow of people means calls are often unanswered.

Three months into the new post, the newly appointed Consul General, Junever Mahilum-West, says she is cognizant of requests to increase her office’s service hours and expand its operations. The consulate is open Monday to Friday at 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The building where the consulate is located, on 161 Eglinton Avenue East, has no security on weekends and so opening it on weekends is off the table, she says. But she points to the possibility of increasing work hours on certain days of the week, which her predecessor, Pedro Chan, did. Chan extended the consulate’s hours to 7 p.m. on every third Friday of the month. But Mahilum-West says that adding more hours beyond that is not on the horizon since her office has been able to work within the constraints. “Let’s see, if all the applications could be accommodated,” she says. However, she adds, the foreign affairs department in Manila is aware of the growing demand for additional services in Toronto, which also processes visa/passport applications and addresses concerns of Filipinos living in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. All together, these three provinces account for 200,770, according to the 2006 Statistics Canada census.

The opportunity to partner with community organizations to widen the accessibility of consular services was tested recently, and is being considered as another option. However, she says, these efforts hinge on an expression of interest or an open invitation from organizations to set up a stall to respond to requests.

The onus is on these community groups to shore up enough people to show up to their events, and sign up for a slot so services can be delivered efficiently, according to Mahilum-West. “They have the direct links to these applicants, to their members, we would rely on them to announce [this option] and invite us,” she says.

She noted that the consulate’s recent outreach mission in Saskatoon, one of the far-flung areas in her triple jurisdiction was facilitated with the help of a network of community organizations. They processed an estimated 700 to 800 people within four days.

The consulate plans to send another mission, this time to Regina, in September; the dates have tentatively been set for the 21st through to the 24th. Their goal is to send at least two contingencies a year to the various cities under their watch.

On the job

These days, West who was once constantly exposed to Philippine human rights concerns in Geneva, says her time is focused on attending to a slice of these issues: migrant labour rights. Though she has not had a chance to review the recent report released by the Human Rights Council for its Universal Periodic Review of the Philippines, she places her confidence in the government. “Of course, there are instances when rights get to be violated by state agents but like any country in the world, [the Philippines] is dealing with this and trying to observe its commitments under human rights covenant,” she says.

The UPR review is a process that sheds light onto the human rights abuses of UN member states, conducted every four years, it gives countries the opportunity to report their efforts to improve human rights situations. West says the Philippines may be under attack for alleged human rights violations, but that it is a leader when it comes to promoting the rights of migrant workers.

She cited its efforts to bolster support for the International Labour Organization’s Convention on Decent Work for Domestic Helpers. On September 6, the Philippines was the second country to ratify the convention, which seeks to extend the basic rights afforded to other workers: an outline that stipulates the conditions of employment, fair amount of working hours, setting a bar on in-kind payment, among others.

With a slew of sweeping changes to Canada’s immigration policy, a growing population base, and everyday consular matters to attend to, Mahilum-West says her attention is focused on promoting and upholding “the welfare of Filipinos abroad.”

This entails tracking and reporting the incremental changes to immigration and labour policies, and flagging any potential areas of concern, where the interests of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) may be sidelined.

The additional weight given to language proficiency (worth a maximum of 28 points, up from 24) above other indicators for eligibility in the immigration point grid has drawn flack from immigration experts and pundits, who argue that we may see a shift to accepting more immigrants from Europe, or primarily English- or French-speaking nations.

The emphasis awarded to language over education, age, work experience, arranged employment and adaptability, takes cues from Australia’s immigration policy.

The revamped model, which takes effect in January 2013, does not raise any red flags for Mahilum-West. With English being the other official language of their native land, Filipinos have an advantage over other Asian nations that may feel the brunt of the changes., she says. “It is favourable to Filipinos because we are well known for our English proficiency. Right now, we don’t see any cause for alarm,” she says.

Meanwhile, the cap placed on family reunification to thin out the number of applicants, which totaled to about 165,000 last November, and to initiate a move toward the alternate path of a super visa has ignited new fears about the length and the odds of a reunion.

The super visa issued to parents and grandparents sponsored by citizens promises a speedier process of up to eight weeks. Other applications pending have been waiting on the docket for seven to eight years.
The temporary hold is expected for up to two years, according to the press release issued by Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

However, obtaining a super visa presents its own package of hurdles for Filipinos anxiously waiting to be reunited with their loved ones — it often entails securing costly private insurance coverage and visa renewals every two years.

Mahilum-West says this policy is out of the consulate’s hands. “In immigration matters in Canada, like in immigration matters in the Philippines, it’s really the prerogative of the government to administer and manage immigration,” she says.

The Consul General says she has established close ties with the labour attaché, Frank Luna and through him, is learning more about the situation of Filipino caregivers.

Recent changes to the live-in caregiver program have stirred mixed reactions from Filipinos. Last December, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney introduced a new measure that would allow live-in caregivers to get their open work permits immediately after they apply for permanent residence (PR) status instead of waiting until they receive “approval in principle.” The measure, says Kenney, will save applicants 18 months of wait time.

A CIC press statement says the process will allow live-in caregivers to supplement their income by taking jobs outside of their host placement or taking any job they wish once their contract obligations for two years, or 3,900 hours are fulfilled.

Prior to its introduction, live-in caregivers had to wait for their residency papers to be approved before they could move out of their employers’ homes.

Some caregivers and live-in caregivers’ groups are raising concerns about the effect it will have on their PR applications and whether the government will place less urgency on processing these ahead of their open work permits.

A growing number of nannies are also complaining about long wait times for the open permit, without which they are unable to work outside the live-in caregiver program’s confines or have to resort to continue working as a live-in caregiver beyond the obligations mandated when they apply for PR status. The Toronto Star quotes CIC spokesperson Bill Brown as saying that the process for open work permits is 71 days.

But Mahilum-West is wary of these fears. “I will not preempt or predict what’s the outcome of that policy, but anything that adds to the options available to our workers is to be welcomed,” she says. “We should not be swayed by fears that may be unfounded.”