OFW in hurricane-hit Bahamas pleads for gov't aid


By JOAHNA LEI CASILAO, GMA News
A Filipino nurse working in the Bahamas has called for government assistance following the "extensive damage" caused by Hurrican Dorian early September, claiming that her earlier requests to an agency has been ignored.
Imelda Factor Glori sought the help of the group Lilac Center for Public Interest, saying that she was "disheartened" by reports of fellow overseas Filipino workers who reached out to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA)  for help but were allegedly not attended to.
OFWs who returned to Manila were told "wala kaming alam about you all concerning Hurricane Dorian," Glori told GMA News Online on Wednesday.
"We cried for financial assistance from our government because, as far as we know, we, OFWs, diligently paid our OWWA dues and all contributions before we were deployed," she said.
“I,myself, terribly suffered. My home has no roof yet I am overwhelmed with patients at the clinic, and I hope the Philippine government will assist us here in the Bahamas. We are OWWA members,” Glori said in a separate email sent to Lilac Center.
According to Glori, the Philippine consul general in Washington, D.C came to the Bahamas to assess the needs of the Filipino workers affected by the hurricane.
"The US Phil association sent $1300 to be distributed to each victims, $50, and the Con Gen gave $100 to those who attended the meeting. Well, for those who weren’t in the meeting, [we] didn’t get any," Glori said.
As the nurse in-charge at Hope Town Clinic, she said she assisted in giving medical care to people injured during the storm and was thus unable to attend the meeting.
Glori said that several Filipinos living in the Bahamas, especially in the islands of Grand Bahamas, Abaco, and Cays, are homeless and jobless with no passports or personal identity documents.
"Because of all these cries I heard from all my kababayans I took the responsibility to reach out to our government for help. We are even in the long line just to get a $20 voucher for the food store," she said.
"Their children has to be listed for social service for lunch," Glori added.
In a separate statement, Lilac Center said it has called on the Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Labor and Employment, and the Overseas Workers Administration to send a relief mission to the Bahamas and help alleviate the plight of the OFW-victims of Hurricane Dorian.
Earlier, Sune Bulow, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies' Emergency Operation Center in Geneva, said that at least 13,000 houses were damaged or destroyed in the area.
GMA News Online has reached out to OWWA, but has yet to receive a response. —LDF, GMA News

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