Officials: No govt aid for stranded Pinoys in UAE
MANILA, Philippines - Philippine officials advised Filipino expatriates at the border of the United Arab Emirates and Oman to coordinate with them before leaving UAE, as Manila has no funds for their hotel bills should they be stranded.
The advice came from labor attaché Jeffrey Cortazar and welfare officer Mario Antonio of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and Philippine Overseas Labor Office.
Online news site Khaleej Times reported that the POLO and OWWA learned most of the stranded Filipinos expect the Philippine government to bail them out.
Cortazar and Antonio said they could only make representations with the hotel managements regarding the pending hotel bills.
"A hotel has agreed to write off the hotel bills of a Filipino, who has been stranded for five months and whose bills have reached Dh15,000 (P194,422). But this is an isolated case as not all hotels will give this much assistance," Cortazar said.
The team advised Filipinos facing the problem to contact the Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Philippine Consulate before they leave Dubai.
It said Filipinos should at least know the contact official and the telephone numbers of the diplomatic missions.
"Majority of the Filipinos, who are left by their travel agencies and sponsors to fend for themselves, do not know what to do because they do not know the officials and the telephone numbers of the Philippine missions," the team said.
On the other hand, the team also found the Omani government will grant visas for a month, after which the expats will have to renew it for another month.
"If they cannot renew, they have to pay OMR10 (Dh100 or P1,296) daily until the 24th day. On the 25th, the penalty is a flat rate, which is OMR250 (Dh2,500 or P32,403).
Cortazar and Antonio said their fact-finding showed a Filipino in such a problem would spend an average of Dh3,000 (Php30,000) for visa exit purposes on the UAE-Oman border.
"We advise strongly for the Filipinos to go home to the Philippines and wait for their new visa, whether for employment or for new tourist visas, instead of undergoing stress, spending a lot and sacrificing themselves in a foreign land," they said.
They also stressed that Filipinos should refrain from having multiple applications with different travel agencies or sponsors because this will just delay the release of their visas. - GMANews.TV
The advice came from labor attaché Jeffrey Cortazar and welfare officer Mario Antonio of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and Philippine Overseas Labor Office.
Online news site Khaleej Times reported that the POLO and OWWA learned most of the stranded Filipinos expect the Philippine government to bail them out.
Cortazar and Antonio said they could only make representations with the hotel managements regarding the pending hotel bills.
"A hotel has agreed to write off the hotel bills of a Filipino, who has been stranded for five months and whose bills have reached Dh15,000 (P194,422). But this is an isolated case as not all hotels will give this much assistance," Cortazar said.
The team advised Filipinos facing the problem to contact the Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Philippine Consulate before they leave Dubai.
It said Filipinos should at least know the contact official and the telephone numbers of the diplomatic missions.
"Majority of the Filipinos, who are left by their travel agencies and sponsors to fend for themselves, do not know what to do because they do not know the officials and the telephone numbers of the Philippine missions," the team said.
On the other hand, the team also found the Omani government will grant visas for a month, after which the expats will have to renew it for another month.
"If they cannot renew, they have to pay OMR10 (Dh100 or P1,296) daily until the 24th day. On the 25th, the penalty is a flat rate, which is OMR250 (Dh2,500 or P32,403).
Cortazar and Antonio said their fact-finding showed a Filipino in such a problem would spend an average of Dh3,000 (Php30,000) for visa exit purposes on the UAE-Oman border.
"We advise strongly for the Filipinos to go home to the Philippines and wait for their new visa, whether for employment or for new tourist visas, instead of undergoing stress, spending a lot and sacrificing themselves in a foreign land," they said.
They also stressed that Filipinos should refrain from having multiple applications with different travel agencies or sponsors because this will just delay the release of their visas. - GMANews.TV
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