30 distressed OFWs in UAE get early Christmas gift
MANILA, Philippines - Another group of Filipinos stranded in the United Arab Emirates will fly home on Tuesday night, no thanks to the Philippine government agency tasked to provide welfare and protection to distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
A press statement of the Migrante Sectoral Party (MSP) on Tuesday said the 30 OFWs are scheduled to depart from Dubai International Airport on Tuesday nightand arrive in Manila on Wednesday at about 10:30 onboard a Cathay Pacific Airlines flight.
MSP vice chairperson said John Leonard Monterona said the repatriation expenses for the 30 OFWs, including the plane tickets and payment for their exit fees, cancellation fees, and penalties, were handled not by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) but by Senator Manuel Villar.
He said that Villar will also pay for the fares of the workers when they go home to their respective provinces.
“Indeed, this is what the 30 OFWs, like the thousands stranded in the Middle East, (have) been praying and wish(ing) for – to be reunited with their loved ones especially during Christmas," Monterona said.
He said the workers sought refuge at the OWWA shelter in Abu Dhabi after running away from their employers who allegedly maltreated, overworked, or did not pay them.
Monterona took the occasion to scold the government agencies concerned and the Arroyo administration for always falling short of the assistance they give to distressed OFWs.
“The Arroyo administration, having control of the government’s resources and the P10-billion Overseas Worker Welfare Administration fund, could not facilitate the immediate repatriation of thousands stranded OFWs in the Middle East," he said.
The party also accused the Arroyo administration of allotting funds for payola but not having a single centavo for the repatriation of the thousands stranded and distressed OFWs in the Middle East and other parts of the world.
Other OFW groups have in the past scored the OWWA for being slow in assisting distressed workers, including cases that needed urgent intervention.
They also noted that the OWWA is quick in acting only when there is politics involved.
In one instance in mid-2003, the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Jeddah repeatedly requested for plane tickets for 13 Filipino fishermen who left their employer after months of unpaid work.
POLO officials complained then that their request for assistance from Manila had been slow in coming.
But when opposition Senator Panfilo Lacson ordered plane tickets for the fishermen after learning about their plight during his visit to Jeddah in July 2003, the OWWA immediately sent the tickets the POLO had long requested.
The incident was reported in Arab News, an English daily based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on July 22, 2003. - Kimberly Jane T. Tan, GMANews.TV
A press statement of the Migrante Sectoral Party (MSP) on Tuesday said the 30 OFWs are scheduled to depart from Dubai International Airport on Tuesday nightand arrive in Manila on Wednesday at about 10:30 onboard a Cathay Pacific Airlines flight.
MSP vice chairperson said John Leonard Monterona said the repatriation expenses for the 30 OFWs, including the plane tickets and payment for their exit fees, cancellation fees, and penalties, were handled not by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) but by Senator Manuel Villar.
He said that Villar will also pay for the fares of the workers when they go home to their respective provinces.
“Indeed, this is what the 30 OFWs, like the thousands stranded in the Middle East, (have) been praying and wish(ing) for – to be reunited with their loved ones especially during Christmas," Monterona said.
He said the workers sought refuge at the OWWA shelter in Abu Dhabi after running away from their employers who allegedly maltreated, overworked, or did not pay them.
Monterona took the occasion to scold the government agencies concerned and the Arroyo administration for always falling short of the assistance they give to distressed OFWs.
“The Arroyo administration, having control of the government’s resources and the P10-billion Overseas Worker Welfare Administration fund, could not facilitate the immediate repatriation of thousands stranded OFWs in the Middle East," he said.
The party also accused the Arroyo administration of allotting funds for payola but not having a single centavo for the repatriation of the thousands stranded and distressed OFWs in the Middle East and other parts of the world.
Other OFW groups have in the past scored the OWWA for being slow in assisting distressed workers, including cases that needed urgent intervention.
They also noted that the OWWA is quick in acting only when there is politics involved.
In one instance in mid-2003, the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Jeddah repeatedly requested for plane tickets for 13 Filipino fishermen who left their employer after months of unpaid work.
POLO officials complained then that their request for assistance from Manila had been slow in coming.
But when opposition Senator Panfilo Lacson ordered plane tickets for the fishermen after learning about their plight during his visit to Jeddah in July 2003, the OWWA immediately sent the tickets the POLO had long requested.
The incident was reported in Arab News, an English daily based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on July 22, 2003. - Kimberly Jane T. Tan, GMANews.TV
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