Filipino migrant workers are important to the President, I cannot imagine him not raising it.

Big comeback Traditional Russian dolls depicting Presidents Rodrigo Duterte and Vladimir Putin are on display at the Philippine Embassy in Moscow to mark the second visit of the Philippine leader after his first in 2017 was disrupted by the start of an extremist occupation of Marawi City. MPC POOL

High on President Rodrigo Duterte’s list when he sits down with President Vladimir Putin today in Sochi, Russia will be the plight of undocumented Filipino workers that a bilateral labor agreement will seek to address.

According to the Philippines envoy to the Russian Federation, Ambassador Carlos Sorreta, of the almost 10,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFW) throughout the European nation, around 90 percent are female and employed under the radar as household service workers due to the limited number of available work visas.

“Filipino migrant workers are important to the President. I cannot imagine him not raising it and putting his advocacy behind it. When that happens, it will be a big help to our efforts on the ground to work out the details,” Sorreta said in an interview.

“The sad thing is very few [have this visa] because there are only about a hundred legal visas available for nannies and household service workers. So, the rest do not have this visa to work here, but they work here. They are doing very well,” he added.

This is why, Sorreta asserted, a bilateral labor agreement is needed between the Philippines and Russia to address the issue and ensure that Filipino workers will not be detained and deported.

While the Philippine Embassy in Moscow rarely receives complaints of abuse, it is a different story when it comes to repatriation requests.

In the past few weeks, some 17 cases were carried out, several of which were due to “medical reasons.”

A couple of weeks prior to Mr. Duterte’s departure for Moscow, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said a bilateral labor agreement “is being finalized” to iron out kinks, as Russia wants a government-to-government deal while the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) wants accredited recruitment agencies to be involved.

Once the bilateral agreement has been signed and the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) have been issued, Filipinos seeking employment in Russia may already file their applications.

“Agreements like these don’t just fall out of the sky. Each comma, period, and word is worked on. Once that is signed, those who want to work here can already have legal status,” Sorreta stated.

“The legalization or amnesty of those already here, meanwhile, is another topic of discussion. Of course, we will also push for that,” the envoy added.

Promoting the Philippines as a prime destination for Russian tourists, meanwhile, is also on the agenda as part of the Duterte administration’s thrust of strengthening people-to-people exchanges with Russia, the envoy noted.

“It’s not easy because it’s very strategic. So, promote the product, promote the tourist… the destinations. But then at the same time, you promote the culture, the art, cuisine,” Sorreta said.

“We’ve been having slight increases over the years in tourism arrivals from Russia. Russians travel a lot. I’m amazed with their desire to travel and they travel a lot to Southeast Asia. Almost two million go to Southeast Asia. The bulk goes to Thailand, about 1.4 million. We get about 30 to 35,000. So, we need to exert more effort. There’s no doubt that Russians travel. They just need to know more about the Philippines,” he concluded.

Warm welcome, cold air President Rodrigo Duterte disembarks from a plane upon his arrival in Moscow. MALACAÑANG PHOTO

Philippine Navy (PN) chief Vice Adm. Robert Empedrad said the Navy is looking at Russia and France to acquire the country’s first ever submarine.

Empedrad made the remark when asked on the options as part of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) multibillion-peso modernization program.

“I didn’t say (that France) is preferred but for now our requirements fit (the offer of the European country),” he said.

“But we continue to request for proposals from other company as well. So, Korea has a proposal, I think Germany also has one,” he added.

With regards to Russia who in the past has expressed willingness to help the country acquire military hardware, Empedrad said its offer is also being considered.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana earlier said that the government is studying procuring from Russia helicopters, trainer planes and submarines for the AFP.

“There is still no budget. Hopefully, Congress can give us the budget or whatever so we can buy it already,” he said.

“I think if we manage to buy a submarine, we can have a strategic, psychological deterrence,” he added.

Empedrad said a submarine from France fits the needs for a submarine particularly on its weapon system, sonar capability and stealth design.

“It’s a very quiet submarine (France offer), while the kilo class of Russia is a very huge submarine, and very expensive as well. So, it depends really on the budget and the requirements of the Philippine Navy,” he said.

“We are continuously studying this and then hopefully we finalize what is our preference and then the budget will come out so we can bid for it,” he added.

Empedrad did not discount the possibility of acquiring a submarine via a government-to-government deal. “It depends on what will happen,” he said.

He said the Navy is targeting to get a delivery of submarine by 2027.

To prepare for the possible acquisition, Empedrad said the Navy sent people to France to study submarine and anti-submarine warfare.

“Their training continues. Last year we spent P18 million for the submarine training. We need to be ready before the submarines arrive, otherwise they might get into an accident,” he explained.