Official wants OWWA insurance to cover jailed, executed OFWs
MANILA, Phlippines - An officer of the Overseas Workers' Welfare Adminstration (OWWA) is urging amendments to the agency's current membership policy to include benefits for non-active members who have been languishing in jail or facing death sentences.
Carmelina Velasquez, a director IV of the welfare agency, told GMANews.TV that under current rules, migrant workers who are unable to renew their OWWA membership because they are jailed would not receive the insurance benefits accorded to active members.
OWWA members are entitled to death insurance that range from P100,000 (for natural cause of death) to P 200,000 (accidental).
Velasquez said that while the OWWA still provides assistance to the dependents of distressed OFWs whose membership are not up-to-date, out of humanitarian considerations, there ought to be a change in the policy tso that the OWWA will have clearer rules on what benefits to give.
“Even if we already have the policies, it's not cast in stone since we still give out monetary assistance anyway," she said in an interview.
Last week, Venancio Ladion, alias Jennifer Bidoya, a 27-year-old OFW from Zamboanga-Sibugay, was beheaded in Saudi Arabia for killing a Saudi man who allegedly lured him to have sex with four other Saudi men.
Through the assistance of OWWA, Bidoya's father flew to Manila earlier this week, according to Velasquez, to follow-up on the repatriation of his son's body.
Since Bidoya became an illegal worker in Saudi Arabia, he was not able to renew his $25 OWWA membership. Velasquez said the OWWA gave his relatives a “small" cash donation, a carabao and a thresher for their livelihood.
Aside from this, the OWWA is also keen in offering scholarships to the dependents of Bidoya.
Meanwhile, Velasquez said that the amendments to the existing OWWA policies would be a good flagship project for newly instated OWWA chief Carmelita Dimzon.
“I will suggest that to her," she said.
The agency's policies are approved by the OWWA Governing Board, which is chaired by the labor secretary, and which has representatives from the OFW, manpower, private and labor sectors.
Last month, migrant workers' groups led by Migrante International trooped to the OWWA office in Manila to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the implementation of the agency's omnibus policies.
The OWWA Omnibus Policy or OWWA Resolution No. 038 seeks to provide the guidelines for the agency in the course of implementing delivery of services to OFWs.
Under the current OWWA policy, only active members of OWWA could avail of the services and benefits that include a P100,000 life insurance (for natural death), and P200,000 insurance (for accidental death), disability benefits, scholarship programs, repatriation and reintegration programs.
According to the group, the mismanagement of the P10-billion OWWA fund - gathered from the $25 OWWA membership fee of OFWs - endangers the lives of migrant workers particularly during times of crises when their immediate repatriation is needed. - GMANews.TV
Carmelina Velasquez, a director IV of the welfare agency, told GMANews.TV that under current rules, migrant workers who are unable to renew their OWWA membership because they are jailed would not receive the insurance benefits accorded to active members.
OWWA members are entitled to death insurance that range from P100,000 (for natural cause of death) to P 200,000 (accidental).
Velasquez said that while the OWWA still provides assistance to the dependents of distressed OFWs whose membership are not up-to-date, out of humanitarian considerations, there ought to be a change in the policy tso that the OWWA will have clearer rules on what benefits to give.
“Even if we already have the policies, it's not cast in stone since we still give out monetary assistance anyway," she said in an interview.
Last week, Venancio Ladion, alias Jennifer Bidoya, a 27-year-old OFW from Zamboanga-Sibugay, was beheaded in Saudi Arabia for killing a Saudi man who allegedly lured him to have sex with four other Saudi men.
Through the assistance of OWWA, Bidoya's father flew to Manila earlier this week, according to Velasquez, to follow-up on the repatriation of his son's body.
Since Bidoya became an illegal worker in Saudi Arabia, he was not able to renew his $25 OWWA membership. Velasquez said the OWWA gave his relatives a “small" cash donation, a carabao and a thresher for their livelihood.
Aside from this, the OWWA is also keen in offering scholarships to the dependents of Bidoya.
Meanwhile, Velasquez said that the amendments to the existing OWWA policies would be a good flagship project for newly instated OWWA chief Carmelita Dimzon.
“I will suggest that to her," she said.
The agency's policies are approved by the OWWA Governing Board, which is chaired by the labor secretary, and which has representatives from the OFW, manpower, private and labor sectors.
Last month, migrant workers' groups led by Migrante International trooped to the OWWA office in Manila to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the implementation of the agency's omnibus policies.
The OWWA Omnibus Policy or OWWA Resolution No. 038 seeks to provide the guidelines for the agency in the course of implementing delivery of services to OFWs.
Under the current OWWA policy, only active members of OWWA could avail of the services and benefits that include a P100,000 life insurance (for natural death), and P200,000 insurance (for accidental death), disability benefits, scholarship programs, repatriation and reintegration programs.
According to the group, the mismanagement of the P10-billion OWWA fund - gathered from the $25 OWWA membership fee of OFWs - endangers the lives of migrant workers particularly during times of crises when their immediate repatriation is needed. - GMANews.TV
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