SENATE President Manuel Villar, who paid for
the plane tickets home of several stranded overseas Filipino
workers in Jordan, yesterday asked the Overseas Workers Welfare
Administration (OWWA) to account for its repatriation funds for
OFWs.
He also criticized OWWA for its failure to
immediately repatriate distressed OFWs who have escaped from
their abusive foreign employers. He said most of the stranded
OFWs that he helped bring home Monday from Jordan have been
languishing in embassy shelters for more than eight months.
"Sana naman magising na ang OWWA at ilabas na
ang pondo nila kung may natitira pa para matulungan ang ating
mga kababayan," Villar said. "Hindi natin alam kung saan
dinadala 'yun. Ganunpaman, gusto kong dagdagan pa ang kanilang
budget."
Villar said he would request the Department
of Budget and Management to augment OWWA's repatriation fund if
there had been a shortfall. He also said OWWA should not
discriminate against distressed OFWs who have no proper
documentation. "Isa pang problema, ang OWWA kasi ay pwede lamang
magbigay ng pamasahe na medyo delayed pa, doon lamang sa mga
properly documented OFWs. Para sa akin, maski properly
documented iyan o hindi, dapat tulungan sila dahil mga Pilipino
iyan," he stressed.
Villar said five more distressed female OFWs
in Abu Dhabi who have been awaiting repatriation will finally
arrive at NAIA on April 24, bringing to 15 the number of OFWs he
has helped bring home. The five are Lea Malunes, 27, from
Camarines Sur; Salama Bakal, 28, from Cotabato City; Bernadette
Romero, 38, from Cavite; Luciana Lunar, 44, from Batangas; and
Fennie Tiletile, 48, from Tagum City.
Villar said the OFWs all ran away from their
employers due to overwork, maltreatment, and insufficient food.
At least three of them, particularly Bakal, Romero and Lunar,
have been ill and need medical attention.
Villar is also set to file a resolution
urging the Senate to probe the increasingly rampant illegal
recruitment of minors.
Philippine Overseas Employment Administration
head Rosalinda Baldoz said human trafficking charges are being
prepared against the illegal recruiters who sent the six minors
aged between 13 to 17 years to work as maids in Jordan. The six
were passed off as 24-year-olds.
Baldoz said the NAIA task force on illegal
recruitment will handle the case of the teenagers.
Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates chapter
of Migrante International yesterday asked senators and
congressmen to jointly conduct a fact-finding mission to the
Middle East to see for themselves the deplorable condition of
runaways and distressed Filipino migrant workers in deportation
centers there.
Nhel Morona, secretary general of
Migrante-UAE said the mission could gather information that will
be used to come up with legislation that would address the
problem of runaways and distressed OFWs.
Migrante Middle East regional coordinator John Leonard
Monterona said Philippine officials abroad often submit
"sugar-coated" reports about OFWs' situations in deportation
centers and Philippine resource centers. "This was clearly
manifested by the case of 30-year old OFW Ryan Castillo from
Batangas, who died after contracting a disease inside the
overcrowded deportation center in Jeddah, as revealed by his
fellow OFW Armand Navarro who was just repatriated," Monterona
said, adding that Migrante is willing to help the fact-finding
team which should also include representatives from the
Commission on Human Rights. - Dennis Gadil, Job Realubit
and Gerard Naval
