“DFA’S RESPONSE TO OFW CONCERNS IS PROMPT, SWIFT, AND DECISIVE” – DFA UNDERSECRETARY CONEJOS SAYS

02 October 2008 – DFA Undersecretary Esteban Conejos reacted to a GMANews TV article posted online which reported that a staff of the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (OUMWA) allegedly claimed that the DFA’s response is “not pro-active but reactionary.”



“This is not correct,” Undersecretary Conejos said. “On the contrary, our response is swift, prompt, and decisive.” Undersecretary Conejos further said “Let the facts speak for themselves.”



He stated that the DFA provides frontline services as well as policy initiatives to our overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).



Under frontline services he enumerated the following:



a) Death Penalty Cases



Since January 2006, DFA handled 68 death penalty cases, 24 of which have been commuted to life imprisonment and 10 of whom have been repatriated to the Philippines through the personal intercessions of Her Excellency President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Honorable Vice President Noli de Castro, and Honorable Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo.



OUMWA is currently monitoring 44 active and potential death penalty cases.



b) Assistance to Nationals (ATN)



OUMWA is also in the forefront in providing assistance to OFWs caught in emergency situations such as war (Dili, 2006; Lebanon, 2006; Georgia, 2008), labor riots (Kazakhstan 2006), kidnapping incidents (Nigeria and Somalia), and other troubled areas.



OUMWA is pleased to report that our OFWs were safely brought home without a single fatality. DFA also provided assistance in the mass repatriation of Filipinos either from the Middle East or Sabah. DFA also extends assistance to 160 victims of human trafficking for the period January – July 2008.



Since 2003, the DFA has handled 68,535 assistance to nationals cases and 5,000 legal assistance cases for OFWs in distress.



On the policy initiatives, the DFA was successful in pushing for the adoption of the ASEAN Declaration on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers during the 12th ASEAN Summit in Cebu in 2007.



On 27-30 October 2008, the Philippines, with the DFA as lead agency, will host the Second Meeting of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD).



The GFMD is the first ever global event dealing with migration and development. During this meeting, the DFA will shine the spotlight on the human face of migration by adopting as its central theme “protecting and empowering migrants for development.”



Undersecretary Conejos finally added, “if the foregoing is not swift, prompt, and decisive action, I do not know what is.” END

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