RP can’t even help ailing Pinay in Jeddah - group
MANILA, Philippines — A migrant advocacy group on Thursday urged President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to first get her officials to do their jobs properly in helping distressed overseas Filipino workers before telling others to help ensure the protection of migrant workers.
Migrante – Kingdom of Saudi Arabia pointed to the case of Aida Gutierrez, a 41-year-old dressmaker from San Isidro, Nueva Ecija, who is confined at a hospital in Jeddah and whose health is allegedly deteriorating due to the inability of the Philippine mission there to extend any real assistance.
“Arroyo should call for better migrant protection in front of a mirror," said Migrante KSA chairperson A. M. Ociones in response to the President's keynote speech before a gathering of world representatives on Wednesday on the third day of the 2nd Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) in Manila.
Mrs. Arroyo said she wanted “to gather (the) collective will, joint resources, and common efforts" of “international organizations and global civil societies for the protection of migrant workers rights."
“Help begins at home," the advocacy group said, reminding the government that it would be a shame to seek help from others while doing nothing to solve one’s own problems.
According to Ociones, OFW Gutierrez was confined at the Saudi German Hospital in Jeddah on October 2 due to diabetes mellitus and chronic renal failure.
Because she had to be placed under intensive care, her bills continued to balloon, another reason why she could not be discharged from the hospital.
As of October 25, her bill reached 118,838.70 Saudi riyals (roughly PHP 1,564,383.
Twice abandoned
Ociones said Gutierrez's employer did not provide for any medical insurance coverage as mandated by local Saudi laws and has refused to shoulder her hospitalization from the very start.
“Her employer has already abandoned her, fearing the high medical cost and now the government has abandoned Gutierrez by totally ignoring her needs," Ociones lamented.
Quoting relatives in their documentation, Migrante KSA noted that the government representatives’ response to Gutierrez' case ranged from a “non-committal" promise of “assistance… sa abot ng aming makakaya" from Consul General Ezzedin Tago to an outright “wala kaming pondo" by representatives of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).
A case profile prepared by Migrante KSA also claimed that Labor Attaché Buliok Nilong, head of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Jeddah, “apparently admitted to the victim's sister that they cannot do anything by saying ‘wala tayong magagawa d’yan. Walang batas na pwedeng magpwersa sa employer na sagutin ang pagpapagamot."
“These responses is totally reflective the government's de facto policy of reneging on their mandate to serve migrant Filipinos," Ociones said.
Fund-raising
On the other hand, OFW groups in Saudi Arabia, including Migrante, are now all busy raising funds for the hospitalization cost of Gutierrez, but Migrante KSA said they could only raise so much.
“OWWA has billions in its coffers but nothing for situations like these! Where does all our money go?" Ociones asked, citing the admission of Welfare Officer Romeo Pablo that OWWA has no funds and that he will ask other community organizations to start raising money.
“Surely, OWWA do have the funds, but no, they expect that the cost be shouldered again by the virtuous charity of OFWs," Ociones added, blasting President Arroyo at the same time for her policy to pull out the medical coverage from the OWWA and transferring it to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) in 2004.
Before the controversial transfer which critics have linked to Arroyo’s election campaign, the OWWA Medicare shouldered the hospitalization expenses of OFWs who were not covered by health insurance in their place of work.
Migrante and other OFWs asserted that the transfer of OWWA Medicare coupled with the implementation of the OWWA Omnibus Policy in September 2004 effectively denied OFWs with proper medical coverage.
PhilHealth, according to Migrante and by own admission of OWWA staff in Jeddah, can only own up to 20 percent of total hospitalization cost, which can only be reimbursed in the Philippines.
“In a way, Arroyo is right," Ociones said. “Arroyo's government is noteworthy for passing the burden of protecting and ensuring the rights and welfare of migrant workers on people other than themselves who was mandated by the Constitution."
Arroyo made the call to the GFMD in the context of current global financial crisis which, Migrante asserted, affects Filipino migrant workers in more ways than one.
“That employers are abandoning their workers like Aida Gutierrez is a direct result of the global economic crunch," Ociones concludes. “And we expect more of these happening with the intensification of labor-export under the GFMD." - GMANews.TV
Migrante – Kingdom of Saudi Arabia pointed to the case of Aida Gutierrez, a 41-year-old dressmaker from San Isidro, Nueva Ecija, who is confined at a hospital in Jeddah and whose health is allegedly deteriorating due to the inability of the Philippine mission there to extend any real assistance.
“Arroyo should call for better migrant protection in front of a mirror," said Migrante KSA chairperson A. M. Ociones in response to the President's keynote speech before a gathering of world representatives on Wednesday on the third day of the 2nd Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) in Manila.
Mrs. Arroyo said she wanted “to gather (the) collective will, joint resources, and common efforts" of “international organizations and global civil societies for the protection of migrant workers rights."
“Help begins at home," the advocacy group said, reminding the government that it would be a shame to seek help from others while doing nothing to solve one’s own problems.
According to Ociones, OFW Gutierrez was confined at the Saudi German Hospital in Jeddah on October 2 due to diabetes mellitus and chronic renal failure.
Because she had to be placed under intensive care, her bills continued to balloon, another reason why she could not be discharged from the hospital.
As of October 25, her bill reached 118,838.70 Saudi riyals (roughly PHP 1,564,383.
Twice abandoned
Ociones said Gutierrez's employer did not provide for any medical insurance coverage as mandated by local Saudi laws and has refused to shoulder her hospitalization from the very start.
“Her employer has already abandoned her, fearing the high medical cost and now the government has abandoned Gutierrez by totally ignoring her needs," Ociones lamented.
Quoting relatives in their documentation, Migrante KSA noted that the government representatives’ response to Gutierrez' case ranged from a “non-committal" promise of “assistance… sa abot ng aming makakaya" from Consul General Ezzedin Tago to an outright “wala kaming pondo" by representatives of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).
A case profile prepared by Migrante KSA also claimed that Labor Attaché Buliok Nilong, head of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Jeddah, “apparently admitted to the victim's sister that they cannot do anything by saying ‘wala tayong magagawa d’yan. Walang batas na pwedeng magpwersa sa employer na sagutin ang pagpapagamot."
“These responses is totally reflective the government's de facto policy of reneging on their mandate to serve migrant Filipinos," Ociones said.
Fund-raising
On the other hand, OFW groups in Saudi Arabia, including Migrante, are now all busy raising funds for the hospitalization cost of Gutierrez, but Migrante KSA said they could only raise so much.
“OWWA has billions in its coffers but nothing for situations like these! Where does all our money go?" Ociones asked, citing the admission of Welfare Officer Romeo Pablo that OWWA has no funds and that he will ask other community organizations to start raising money.
“Surely, OWWA do have the funds, but no, they expect that the cost be shouldered again by the virtuous charity of OFWs," Ociones added, blasting President Arroyo at the same time for her policy to pull out the medical coverage from the OWWA and transferring it to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) in 2004.
Before the controversial transfer which critics have linked to Arroyo’s election campaign, the OWWA Medicare shouldered the hospitalization expenses of OFWs who were not covered by health insurance in their place of work.
Migrante and other OFWs asserted that the transfer of OWWA Medicare coupled with the implementation of the OWWA Omnibus Policy in September 2004 effectively denied OFWs with proper medical coverage.
PhilHealth, according to Migrante and by own admission of OWWA staff in Jeddah, can only own up to 20 percent of total hospitalization cost, which can only be reimbursed in the Philippines.
“In a way, Arroyo is right," Ociones said. “Arroyo's government is noteworthy for passing the burden of protecting and ensuring the rights and welfare of migrant workers on people other than themselves who was mandated by the Constitution."
Arroyo made the call to the GFMD in the context of current global financial crisis which, Migrante asserted, affects Filipino migrant workers in more ways than one.
“That employers are abandoning their workers like Aida Gutierrez is a direct result of the global economic crunch," Ociones concludes. “And we expect more of these happening with the intensification of labor-export under the GFMD." - GMANews.TV
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