2007 it was akeady reported that there are only 100 arbiters nationwide who can handle only 30,000 of the 52,000 cases filed every year. The POEA conciliation/mediation program can even put OFW victims at a disadvantage. Once a victim has entered into settlement, he/she signs a waiver not to pursue other remedies such as monetary claims of salaries and benefits with the NLRC. The process can be so slow that OFW victims just either withdraw their case or accept whatever one-sided settlement mayte reached during the conciliation. V. Managing Migration: Philippine and International Context Labor export policy One of the basic policies declared under Republic Act (RA) 8042 or the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995 (Magna Carta for Overseas Filipinos and their Families) says: 'oWhile recognizing the significant contribution of Filipino migrant workers to the national economy through their foreign exchange remittances, the State does not promote overseas employment as a means to sustain economic growth and achieve national development." The law is moreover explicit that the existence of the overseas employment program'tests solely on the assurance that the dignity and fundamental human rights and freedoms of the Filipino citizens shall not, at any time, be compromised or violated". This is understood as covering the following possible conditions in the receiving country: having laws protective of workers' rights, having a bilateral agreement with the Philippines, being signatory to the vital intemational conventions, recognizing the Philippine government's standard employment contract, and otherwise taking positive concrete measures to protect migrant workers. The state is also obliged to continuously create local employment opportunities and promote the equitable distribution of wealth and the benefits of development. In practice however the government has for years promoted cheap labor export contrary to the provisions of RA 8042. There has for instance apparently been loose application of what is required of receiving countries with even just one of the conditions being taken as sufficient guarantee. Last year also saw a notable step towards making labor export policy even more explicit. The government issued Administrative Order (AO) No. 247 n December 2008 which called for "crafting aggressive overseas employment strategies that defy the trend of a constricting job market" and reoriented the POEA from monitoring and regulation to active promotion of labor export. There is even pending legislation to further institutionalize labor export such as House Bill387 that liberalizes and accelerates the processing and deployment of overseas Filipino workers. The explicit conceptual shift is significant and retrogressive in failing to 40