‘Laglag-bala,’ balikbayan box issues created ‘climate of fear’ for OFWs –advocate

The supposed "laglag-bala" extortion racket in airports and the Bureau of Customs' previous plan to manually inspect balikbayan boxes have created a "climate of fear" for OFWs, pro-OFW advocate Susan Ople said Tuesday.
Ople, head of the Blas Ople Policy Center and Training Institute, said this may result in fewer OFWs coming home or sending packages to their loved ones at home this Christmas season.
"Climate of fear—from tanim bala to tanim takot, kasi 'yan na po 'yung description ng ating mga OFWs," Ople said at a press briefing in Quezon City.
"Right now the OFWs are saying that we don't feel safe," Ople added. "There is trauma attached."
Fewer balikbayan boxes
Already, there has been a 20-30 percent decrease in the business of freight forwarders compared to last year, according to Ople, a senatorial hopeful in the 2016 elections.
Ople cited as example the case of Atlas Shipping. She said according to its owner, Joel Lungares, there were 70 container vans of balikbayan boxes from the US headed for the Philippines in October 2014. For this year, they only had 50 container vans.
"Down ang sales ng balikbayan box. Ibig sabihin, it takes time for the healing and confidence-building among OFWs to be completed," Ople said.
"Dapat daw 'pag October, pag-pasok ng 'ber' months, 'yung kanilang mga balikbayan boxes orders, yung kanilang mga containers ay triple na ang sales. Ngayon, hindi lang status quo na-maintain, bumaba pa," she added.
Each container van contains more or less 400 balikbayan boxes.
In August this year, President Benigno Aquino III ordered the BOC to stop the implementation of its plan to physically inspect balikbayan boxes after the plan drew huge flak from OFWs.
Aquino said the BOC should only conduct a physical inspection of goods if there are derogatory findings from the X-ray or K-9 examination.
Laglag-bala
Meanwhile, Ople said OFWs were deeply concerned with the case of Gloria Ortinez, the 56-year-old domestic helper who was arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) recently after a bullet was found in her hand-carry bag.
Ople said the supposed lapses in security, especially the "laglag-bala" scheme allegedly perpetrated by unscrupulous airport personnel, held the collection of integrated terminal fee in question.
She said that P15 out of the domestic terminal fee by the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) was dedicated to aviation security, while P165.18 was due to MIAA itself.
Despite this, she said that OFWs like Ortinez still had to contend with security issues such as the laglag-bala extortion scheme.
"Money in, money out, dapat accounted... Sapilitan itong pagkuha, wala naman nang magagawa yun OFWs kasi integrated," said Ople, who has opposed the integration of terminal fee to airline tickets, citing the law that exempts OFWs from it.
Ople asked the MIAA for a full disclosure of the use of terminal fee funds.
She then called on OFWs victimized by extortion schemes to contact the Blas Ople Policy Center and Training Institute for assistance. "One Nanay Gloria is too much," she said. —KBK, GMA News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

POPCOM, gagamit ng ‘digital platforms’ para pagtibayin ang mga ugnayang pampamilya

Mas pinalalawig ng Komisyon sa Populasyon at Pagpapaunlad (POPCOM) ang adhikain nitong pagpapalaganap at pagpapabuti ng pakikipag-ugnayan ng mga nakakatandang Pilipino sa kanilang mga anak na nagdadalaga at nagbibinata. Nitong Setyembre 21, ang POPCOM ay nagsagawa ng isang “parent-teen talk webinar” gamit ang Zoom, kung saan ang isang “interactive program” ang nagbigay ng naaayon na kaalaman at kasanayan sa mga magulang, habang tumulong ito sa mga anak na teenager na maabot ang kanilang buong potensyal. Hinikayat din nito ang mga nanay at tatay na sumali sa malayang usapan, lalo na sa mga usapin ukol sa sex at sekswalidad, na nakikitang makakatulong upang bumaba ang mga bilang ng mga pagbubuntis sa hanay ng mga kabataan. Maaaring mapanood ang webinar sa https://youtu.be/lZ9jrJCjYas. Ayon kay Ikalawang Kalihim (Undersecretary) Juan Antonio A. Perez III, MD, MPH, “ang webinar ay naging isang tagapag-simula at ‘padaluyan’ ng pag-uu
Read more

Biden said set to make push for demilitarized Palestinian state as part of new doctrine ---By LAZAR BERMAN

New York Times’ Thomas Friedman, who’s close to the US administration, says emerging doctrine would include Saudi-Israeli normalization, 2-state solution, and campaign against Iran US President Joe Biden’s administration is homing in on a new doctrine involving an unprecedented push to immediately advance the creation of a demilitarized but viable Palestinian state, The New York Times’ Thomas Friedman reported on Thursday. The plan, Friedman wrote, “would involve some form of US recognition of a demilitarized Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that would come into being only once Palestinians had developed a set of defined, credible institutions and security capabilities to ensure that this state was viable and that it could never threaten Israel.” White House officials “have been consulting experts inside and outside the US government about different forms this recognition of Palestinian statehood might take,” revealed Friedman. What he termed the new “Biden Doctrin
Read more

In Cairo, senior Hamas officials discuss hostage deal with Egyptian intelligence chief ---By TOI STAFF, AGENCIES and LAZAR BERMAN

Delegation said led by terror group’s Qatar-based political leader Ismail Haniyeh; Wall Street Journal reports Hamas demanding 150 security prisoners for each female soldier A delegation of senior Hamas officials arrived in Cairo on Thursday for talks with Egyptian officials on a possible deal that would see the release of hostages held by terrorists in Gaza. The delegation was led by Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, who lives in Qatar, and included senior members Mousa Abu Marzook and Khalil al-Hayya, the Qatar-based Al-Araby news outlet reported, citing an unnamed Egyptian source. The Hamas officials met with the head of Egyptian intelligence, Major General Abbas Kamel, to discuss the details of a hostage deal proposal that was presented to the Gaza terror group earlier this week by Qatari and Egyptian mediators. The outline of the deal was drawn up during a meeting in Paris last week in the presence of Israeli and US officials, as well as Qatari and Egyptian negotiators, a
Read more