Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts Volume IV, Number 3 February 15 - 21, 2004 Quezon City, Philippines |
NEWS AT A GLANCEOWWA
turns back on OFW with terminal cancer -- Migrante After
working as a domestic helper in Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong for 11 years, 36-year
old Nariz of Sipocot, Camarines Sur, came home very weak last Sept. 29. She was
diagnosed as suffering from colon cancer, now in its terminal stage, and has
only until March this year to live. “Since
we are only poor folks, my sister needed to access her medical benefits to
counter the cancer early on,” said Randy, Nariz’s brother. He blames the
OWWA for denying her of medical assistance, which resulted in delayed medication
leading to cancer complications in Nariz’s lungs and liver. Bragas-Regalado
said that the Omnibus Policies instituted by the OWWA Board of Trustees last
Sept. 19 meant the loss of benefits and services to hundreds of thousands of
OFWs and their families. The welfare agency limited its medical assistance and
other services to OWWA members who are “active members” with live work
contracts. Migrante,
along with OFWs and their families, are lobbying for the scrapping of the
Omnibus Policies. *
* * Bayan Muna demands MWSS transparency on water rate arbitrationBayan
Muna secretary general and party-list nominee Nathanael Santiago denounced the
closed-door hearing held Feb. 12 regarding the Lopez family-owned Maynilad Water
Services’s failure to pay concession fees to the government and its alleged
illegal collection of the foreign currency devaluation adjustment (FCDA) since
January 2002. Santiago
also demanded transparency on the Manila Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS)
as a government regulator after he and representatives from consumer groups and
non-government organizations who went to the MWSS compound in Quezon City as
early as 9 a.m. that day were barred by the agency’s security guards from
attending the hearing. He
also likened Maynilad's FCDA to the Purchased Power Adjustment (PPA) of power
utility firm Meralco — only that “Meralco had the blessings of the
government regulator (Energy Regulatory Commission) to collect PPA, while
Maynilad has been illegally collecting the P4.07 per cubic meter (cu. m.) FCDA
without the consent of the MWSS." Santiago
said the water firm, which services about eight million consumers in the western
section of Metro Manila, has been collecting an illegal P4.07 per cubic meter in
FCDA since January 2002 despite an overcharging case filed against it by the
MWSS regulatory office. Santiago
also said that aside from the basic charge, consumers also pay for the FCDA,
environment sewer's charge and currency exchange rate, items comprising 50% of
their bills. According to the MWSS
regulatory office, Maynilad earned around P1.2 billion from unauthorized
collection of FCDA in 2003 alone. "Despite
the lack of substantial improvement in services, MWSS continued to grant
requests for rate hikes of the two water firms,” Santiago said. “The MWSS,
following the bidding of President Arroyo, pampered them and condoned their
caper." *
* * Criminalization of labor disputes denouncedPagkakaisa
ng Manggagawa sa Timog Katagalugan-Kilusang Mayo Uno (Pamantik or Unity of
Workers in Southern Tagalog), the militant alliance of labor groups in Southern
Tagalog, held a protest Feb. 10 in front of the Department of Justice in Manila
regarding the increasing number of criminalized labor-related cases. Its
chairman, Diosdado Fortuna, said that criminalization of labor disputes has
become an alarming trend in Southern Tagalog through the active participation of
many municipal trial courts in the region. “Most of the time,” he said,
“the capitalists file fabricated criminal charges against workers to curb the
militancy of the union.” Pamantik-KMU
records show that there are at least 300 workers, mostly on-strike, illegally
dismissed or victims of illegal closure, who have been crying for justice for at
least two years, while others for five years or more. The
group said such is the experience of striking workers of Nestle Philippines
Inc., Nissan Motors Phils. Inc., RFM-Swift Meat Processing Plant, and JacLiner
Transit. Bulatlat.com We want to know what you think of this article.
|
|