'Two more OFWs still missing in Afghan crash'
Several OFWs have protested the imposition of the deployment ban on these countries. But some workers sneak into these conflict areas using fake documents.- GMANews.TV Vice President Noli De Castro urged the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Wednesday to look into a report reaching his office that three of the critically injured victims in Sunday’s helicopter crash in Afghanistan are Filipino workers.
De Castro said he learned from Eduardo Najera, father of one of the crash victims and based in the Afghan capital, Kabul, that two more overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were missing in the tragedy.
Ten Filipinos were confirmed to have died Sunday when the Russian-owned civilian Mi-8 helicopter they were on board slammed into the tarmac at Kandahar Air Base shortly after takeoff at NATO's largest air base in Afghanistan.
The DFA has said all 10 victims were employees of the US-based construction firm The AIM Group, Inc.
Keith Stephens, spokesman for Flour Corp., a U.S.-based company that subcontracted the aircraft, earlier said the 10 Filipinos were among 16 out of 21 people aboard the ill-fated chopper.
De Castro, who is concurrent presidential adviser on OFW affairs and chairman of the Task Force Against Illegal Recruitment (Tfair), also told the DFA to send officials of the Philippine mission in Pakistan to Afghanistan and check on the conditions of the injured Filipinos.
“We learned from Mr. Najera that the three overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in the hospital have not been visited yet by our officials from our embassy in Islamabad," he said in a statement.
The Philippine ambassador in Islamabad, Pakistan, has jurisdiction over Afghanistan.
Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban Conejos, in charge of migrant workers' affairs, earlier identified the 10 Filipino fatalities as Ely Cariño, Manolito Hornilla, Celso Caralde, Marvin Najera, Leopoldo Jimenez, Mark Joseph Mariano, Rene D. Taboclaon, Recardo E. Vallejos, Ernesto De Vega, and Noli M. Visda.
Conejos said Philippine foreign service and labor officials based in Pakistan are already in Kandahar to help in the identification of the victims.
In the Philippines, he said, representatives from the DFA and Department of Labor and Employment will be getting DNA samples of relatives of the victims to be matched samples taken from the charred remains found in the crash site.
"It may take some time. But we've gotten assurance from the employers and military officials in Kandahar that they will to help facilitate the repatriation of the remains of the Filipino fatalities," he said.
Once the repatriation is completed and the benefits secured, the next focus of the two departments would be on how the workers were able to get to Afghanistan despite the standing ban.
Investigation
De Castro, on the other hand, said Tfair is conducting its own investigation to find out how these OFWs managed to slip into Afghanistan in violation of a standing Philippine worker deployment ban.
Afghanistan is one of five countries declared off-limits to OFWs due to security concerns. (See sidebar)
“We are now talking to the victims’ families, getting information on the people who facilitated their relatives’ deployment to Afghanistan. We are also coordinating with POEA regarding details on the recruiters’ operation," he said.
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration(POEA) is the agency responsible for regulating manpower agencies that send workers abroad.
Citing initial investigation gathered by his task force, De Castro said one of the tricks of some agencies illegally recruiting Filipino workers for Afghanistan is to let them go to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates complete with travel documents.
In Dubai, the workers would be met by people who would facilitate their entry to Afghanistan.
Last July 14, Tfair operatives and Bureau of Immigration officials at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) stopped 13 OFWs bound for the war-ravaged central Asian country through this arrangement.
The workers admitted to Tfair investigators that they were supposed to work as carpenters, plumbers, and electricians in Kandahar Airfield, where the July 19 chopper crash happened.
The workers were reportedly promised to receive $1,300 monthly, or 62,581 pesos, five times the salary of overworked public school teachers in the Philippines.
“While the Philippine government promotes overseas employment, it has to stop workers from going to foreign lands where their safety is at risk," De Castro said in an earlier statement.
A Tfair officer, who asked not to be named, said they are looking into the possibility that the recruiters of the 13 who were stopped at the NAIA were the same group that sent the 10 OFWs to their deaths in Kandahar.
As earlier revealed by Tfair, the travel documents of the workers who were stopped at the NAIA on July 14 were “facilitated" by a man named Faisal Ahmad Muhammad Alamri.
Alamri reportedly owns Sara Tourism and Cargo, a travel and tours firm in Dubai where the workers were supposed to land first before proceeding to the Kandahar Airfield.
State of RP economy
Meanwhile, the United Opposition (UNO) on Wednesday said the death of the 10 Filipino workers who entered Afghanistan illegally is an indictment of the economic conditions under President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Mayor Jejomar Binay, UNO president, said economic statistics should translate into improvements in the life of ordinary people.
But the influx of thousands of OFWs to danger zones such as Afghanistan and Iraq only shows that the economic achievements being boasted by the Arroyo government are shallow, he said.
“Poverty and despair has worsened under Mrs. Arroyo to the point that many of our workers are willing to risk their lives in order to make a decent living," Binay said.
He said the Kandahar chopper crash “exposes the economic reality under this administration – the economy only looks good in the charts of NEDA but not on the tables of the ordinary Filipinos."
“We have a very difficult life in the Philippines today. That is why many Filipino workers are going abroad. Their death focus attention on the true state of the nation under Mrs. Arroyo," he added. - GMANews.TV
De Castro said he learned from Eduardo Najera, father of one of the crash victims and based in the Afghan capital, Kabul, that two more overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were missing in the tragedy.
Ten Filipinos were confirmed to have died Sunday when the Russian-owned civilian Mi-8 helicopter they were on board slammed into the tarmac at Kandahar Air Base shortly after takeoff at NATO's largest air base in Afghanistan.
The DFA has said all 10 victims were employees of the US-based construction firm The AIM Group, Inc.
Keith Stephens, spokesman for Flour Corp., a U.S.-based company that subcontracted the aircraft, earlier said the 10 Filipinos were among 16 out of 21 people aboard the ill-fated chopper.
De Castro, who is concurrent presidential adviser on OFW affairs and chairman of the Task Force Against Illegal Recruitment (Tfair), also told the DFA to send officials of the Philippine mission in Pakistan to Afghanistan and check on the conditions of the injured Filipinos.
“We learned from Mr. Najera that the three overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in the hospital have not been visited yet by our officials from our embassy in Islamabad," he said in a statement.
The Philippine ambassador in Islamabad, Pakistan, has jurisdiction over Afghanistan.
Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban Conejos, in charge of migrant workers' affairs, earlier identified the 10 Filipino fatalities as Ely Cariño, Manolito Hornilla, Celso Caralde, Marvin Najera, Leopoldo Jimenez, Mark Joseph Mariano, Rene D. Taboclaon, Recardo E. Vallejos, Ernesto De Vega, and Noli M. Visda.
Conejos said Philippine foreign service and labor officials based in Pakistan are already in Kandahar to help in the identification of the victims.
In the Philippines, he said, representatives from the DFA and Department of Labor and Employment will be getting DNA samples of relatives of the victims to be matched samples taken from the charred remains found in the crash site.
"It may take some time. But we've gotten assurance from the employers and military officials in Kandahar that they will to help facilitate the repatriation of the remains of the Filipino fatalities," he said.
Once the repatriation is completed and the benefits secured, the next focus of the two departments would be on how the workers were able to get to Afghanistan despite the standing ban.
Investigation
De Castro, on the other hand, said Tfair is conducting its own investigation to find out how these OFWs managed to slip into Afghanistan in violation of a standing Philippine worker deployment ban.
Afghanistan is one of five countries declared off-limits to OFWs due to security concerns. (See sidebar)
“We are now talking to the victims’ families, getting information on the people who facilitated their relatives’ deployment to Afghanistan. We are also coordinating with POEA regarding details on the recruiters’ operation," he said.
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration(POEA) is the agency responsible for regulating manpower agencies that send workers abroad.
Citing initial investigation gathered by his task force, De Castro said one of the tricks of some agencies illegally recruiting Filipino workers for Afghanistan is to let them go to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates complete with travel documents.
In Dubai, the workers would be met by people who would facilitate their entry to Afghanistan.
Last July 14, Tfair operatives and Bureau of Immigration officials at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) stopped 13 OFWs bound for the war-ravaged central Asian country through this arrangement.
The workers admitted to Tfair investigators that they were supposed to work as carpenters, plumbers, and electricians in Kandahar Airfield, where the July 19 chopper crash happened.
The workers were reportedly promised to receive $1,300 monthly, or 62,581 pesos, five times the salary of overworked public school teachers in the Philippines.
“While the Philippine government promotes overseas employment, it has to stop workers from going to foreign lands where their safety is at risk," De Castro said in an earlier statement.
A Tfair officer, who asked not to be named, said they are looking into the possibility that the recruiters of the 13 who were stopped at the NAIA were the same group that sent the 10 OFWs to their deaths in Kandahar.
As earlier revealed by Tfair, the travel documents of the workers who were stopped at the NAIA on July 14 were “facilitated" by a man named Faisal Ahmad Muhammad Alamri.
Alamri reportedly owns Sara Tourism and Cargo, a travel and tours firm in Dubai where the workers were supposed to land first before proceeding to the Kandahar Airfield.
State of RP economy
Meanwhile, the United Opposition (UNO) on Wednesday said the death of the 10 Filipino workers who entered Afghanistan illegally is an indictment of the economic conditions under President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Mayor Jejomar Binay, UNO president, said economic statistics should translate into improvements in the life of ordinary people.
But the influx of thousands of OFWs to danger zones such as Afghanistan and Iraq only shows that the economic achievements being boasted by the Arroyo government are shallow, he said.
“Poverty and despair has worsened under Mrs. Arroyo to the point that many of our workers are willing to risk their lives in order to make a decent living," Binay said.
He said the Kandahar chopper crash “exposes the economic reality under this administration – the economy only looks good in the charts of NEDA but not on the tables of the ordinary Filipinos."
“We have a very difficult life in the Philippines today. That is why many Filipino workers are going abroad. Their death focus attention on the true state of the nation under Mrs. Arroyo," he added. - GMANews.TV
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