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Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts Volume 3, Number 34 September 28 - October 4, 2003 Quezon City, Philippines |
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Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts Volume 3, Number 34 September 28 - October 4, 2003 Quezon City, Philippines |
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MIGRANT WATCH GMA Orders to Divert Billions of OFW Funds Hit Migrante last week called for an investigation into recent executive orders issued by the Macapagal-Arroyo administration withholding more than PhP10 billion in funds for OFW welfare and channeling at least P4 billion to a for-profit organization. By
Karl G. Ombion
Gratela said the memorandum will result in the denial of burial, medical, livelihood and other forms of assistance to OFWs. He said: “This is the worst thing that happened to OFWs because the GFAP comes from the US$25 every OFW is asked to pay for OWWA membership. These are not government funds. President Arroyo and Labor Secretary Patricia Sto.Tomas should be sensitive to the plight of the distressed OFWs. They should not tinker with welfare programs that provide OFWs even with a small amount of relief.” Philhealth Gratela also condemned Executive Order 182, issued last February, transferring P4.2 billion in OFW Medicare Fund to Philhealth, a private for-profit corporation. He also said that transferring OFW funds to Philhealth is tantamount to privatizing the workers’ funds. "Because Philhealth is a profit-oriented corporation, OFWs find it even more difficult to access their own funds,” he added. “With this privatization, the OFW funds will either be lost to 48 million members of the Philhealth, or to the pockets of big bureaucrats and politicians who have hands on these financing corporations,” the Migrante leader said. Gratela also lambasted President Macapagal-Arroyo for using the transfer of OFW funds to Philhealth for her political campaign for 2004 elections. He said, “No previous administration has done this to OFWs and their families. The Marcos dictatorship established the OWWA to give a semblance of assistance program for OFWs. The Estrada administration did not dare stop the services of OWWA. We are astounded with the outright callousness of the current government in denying us migrants our own funds for our services,” said Gratela. Gratela said that these two government measures will victimize hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of OFWs and their dependents in dire need of relief. Immediate investigation Migrante, Gratela said, is calling for the immediate investigation of these anomalous and anti-OFW moves, and is demanding an end to the privatization of OFW funds and services. It also calls for the institution of bilateral agreements between the Philippine government and the foreign employers and their governments to ensure the rights and welfare of the OFWs. In a related development, Gratela told Bulatlat.com that MIGRANTE is also demanding the immediate recall and filing of legal charges against Renato Villa, Philippine consul in United Arab Emirates (UAE), for gross negligence and incompetence in dealing with the problems of OFWs in UAE. Gratela cited the recent case of a Filipina OFW (he identified as "Grace") raped by a UAE citizen and now languishing in jail while her rapist remains out on bail. The victim sought the assistance of the Consular’s office but was denied legal and even material services. “The case of Grace is similar to several other cases like Sarah Balabagan in 1995, Mary Jane Ramos in 2000, and the victims of recent bombings in Israel, all abandoned by the Philippine government,” Gratela added. A Migrante report noted that there are at least 24,000 documented or registered migrant workers from Negros Occidental, and 6,000 from Negros Oriental. Bulatlat.com / Cobra-Ans We want to know what you think of this article.
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