MIGRANT WATCH
Jeddah OFWs Beaten
Up by Consulate Officials, Decry DFA Cover-up
Four members of Migrante
sectoral party were reportedly beaten up by Philippine Consulate officials
in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia as they were heading for a dialogue. The consulate
officials involved in the mauling should be fired and prosecuted, Migrante
has demanded.
BY AUBREY SC MAKILAN
Bulatlat
Overseas Filipino
workers in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia, who were hurt during a
picket dispersal at the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah, Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia
on July 16 have charged that the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is
covering-up the incident.
According to the Asia
Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM), around 30 members of OUTRAGE
(Overseas Filipinos, Families and Advocates: Unite and Rise to Oust
Gloria)-Jeddah, who were also members of the Jeddah chapter of Migrante
Sectoral Party, gathered at the Philippine Consulate for a dialogue with
government officials on the plight of stranded workers. They also wanted
to express their demand for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s
resignation.
When the OFWs were about to take out the placards bearing the “Oust GMA”
calls, Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) officer Anwar Ampang,
backed by two security guards and an alleged goon identified as Yusof,
reportedly started hitting Leo Legaspi, former Migrante chairperson and
leader of the protesting group. The beating reportedly damaged Legaspi’s
ear.
MSP-Jeddah identified
the other persons hurt as Irene Mahinay, Jackiline Pakpakin and Jessica
Hapos. Hapos and Mahinay suffered blows to the stomach while others
sustained injuries while trying to protect Legaspi from being further
harmed.
Legaspi, in an email
sent to Migrante Sectoral Party national office on July 21, said that OFWs
sheltered at the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration (OWWA) obtained
a permit that allowed leaders of the Migrante International-Jeddah Chapter
accompany them in a dialogue that same day.
This is contrary to
the report of Consul General Pendosina Lomondot to the DFA that eight
persons entered the Philippine Consulate there and “tried to stage a
protest using the tenants of the Filipino Workers’ Resource Center (FWRC)
as a horde to voice out ‘Oust GMA’ slogans.” Legaspi also said that 37,
and not just eight, OFWs were in the dialogue.
He added that
security men closed the Consulate’s gate, while about 100 “goons” were
allegedly hiding inside the two rooms waiting for them to come out at the
end of the dialogue.
Baby Jamil, leader of
the women sheltered in OWWA Center in Jeddah, was also harassed by the
Department of Social Welfare and Development staff Perlita Panganiban and
other Consulate’s “pro-GMA” staff, it was reported.
“This incident shows
how the Macapagal-Arroyo administration treats us overseas Filipinos,” MSP
chairperson Connie Bragas-Regalado said last week. “This further adds to
our reasons why we want Gloria to be ousted.”
Prosecute
Bulatlat
called OWWA’s Repatriation Department, Operation Center, and Information
Office to get their version of the incident but personnel from these
offices referred this reporter to the DFA. The DFA however only sent a
press release issued July 18.
In the press release,
Ampang was said to have first “advised them to stop the action as it was
affecting the work of the staff” and “explained to the protesters that
coaxing the tenants of the FWRC, all of whom were women, to leave the
Consulate premises would be detrimental to the safety of the tenants”
before “a fistfight suddenly broke out among the parties.”
In the DFA press
release, Secretary Alberto Romulo “advised the Philippine Embassy and
Consulate General in the Kngdon of Saudi Arabia (KSA) of the existing
instructions to all Foreign Service Posts on security measures for the
premises and personnel to ensure the uninterrupted delivery of essential
services to their clients.”
Migrante
International’s secretary general, Maita Santiago, criticized that instead
of covering up the incident, involved officials should be prosecuted.
Migrante immediately called for the immediate dismissal of Philippine
Labor officers Yusof, Ampang, and involved security guards.
“These officials do not serve the interests and welfare of OFWs
in Jeddah,” Bragas-Regalado said. “They exhibit the type of leadership and
treatment distressed OFWs get under Philippine Ambassador to Saudi Arabia
Bahnarim Guinomla and the bogus President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.”
DFA spokesman
Gilberto Asuque, however told Bulatlat on July 19 over the phone
that “hindi ginagawa ng [Consulate] officials ang
pambubugbog ng migrante (beating of migrants).”
Neglect
More than being
reprimanded, Santiago
told Bulatlat that Migrante and victimized OFWs are planning to
file charges of physical injury and neglect at the Office of the Ombudsman
against involved officials.
Santiago said the
July 16 dialogue was arranged to discuss the plight of stranded workers.
Migrante records shows there are about 300 stranded OFWs for repatriation
in Jeddah alone, which included Legaspi.
In the same email to
MSP, Legaspi said that when asked for updates on his case, Lomondot said
his employer has not set a date for discussion of the case. Legaspi said
they have not done anything about his case since he filed complaints
against his employer for contract substitution and unjust wage.
Legaspi said that the
Consulate could issue his travel documents but it instead opted to delay
his repatriation “to get back to him for making the officials feel
humiliated.”
Aside from Migrante,
the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has also issued an Urgent Action
Appeal to Philippine and KSA officials concerning the incident.
Bulatlat
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