MIGRANT
WATCH
OWWA Execs, Migrant Groups
Oppose Planned OFW Bank
Why are officials of
the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and migrant groups
opposed to the formation of an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) bank?
BY AUBREY SC MAKILAN
Bulatlat
“Gagatasan lang
talaga ang OWWA funds.” (OWWA funds will only be milked.)
Officials of the
Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and various migrant groups
agreed with this conclusion presented by lawyer-professor Vicky Avena on
the proposed overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Bank in a forum held July 7 in
Manila.
Uninformed
In the forum, it
seemed that neither the OWWA officials nor the representatives of the
different migrant organizations have been informed of the proposed OFW
bank.
“Hindi pa
naipapaalam sa board, e di sana nasa agenda na ng meeting
namin,” OWWA board member Virginia Pasalo said. (The board has not yet
been informed; otherwise it would have been on our meeting’s agenda.)
Though they recognize
the merits of the proposed bank, Pasalo and Rey Tayag, officer-in-charge
of the OWWA Information and Management Division, agree that they do not
want funds from OFWs to be used for it.
For the plan to turn
the Philippine Postal Savings Bank into an OFW bank, P1 billion ($19.1
million, based on an exchange rate of P52.35 per US dollar) from the OWWA
funds will be used.
Tayag said that OFWs have long waited for a genuine OFW bank.
But this is not the one they envisioned, he said.
Meanwhile, officials
and representatives of migrant groups such as Migrante International,
Philippine Association of Maritime Training Centers Inc. (PAMTCI), and
United Filipino Seafarers (UFS), also said that their organizations have
not been briefed about this proposed bank. PAMTCI is a partner
organization of OWWA in training seafarers.
For Migrante chair
Connie Bragas-Regalado, this project will only be another “Philhealth
scam” where about P530 million ($10.1 million) was transferred from OWWA
to Philhealth allegedly used for the candidacy of President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo in the 2004 elections.
UFS chairperson
Nelson Tayag said that in many instances, they came to know many projects,
like this OFW bank, only in the implementation stage. “Pero walang
naging konsultasyon,” he said. (There were no consultations.)
Proposals
According to Avena,
there have been five bills filed in the 13th Congress that seek
the creation of a bank for OFWs. She explained and compared three bills:
Senate Bill No. 639 by Sen. Manuel B. Villar, Jr.; House Bill No. 723 by
Rep. Judy J. Syjuco; and HB No. 1565 by representatives Jaime C. Lopez and
Prospero Nograles.
In all these bills,
the funding will come either from the government or from both the
government and OFW subscription. Avena, however, said that if the funds
will come from the OWWA, then it should be classified as OFW money since
the agency’s money is a trust fund of the OFWs’ $25 membership fee.
She said that if no
OFWs will subscribe or buy their shares to make them stockholders, this
would affect the ratio of the stockholders that will comprise its board.
Even if less than half of the board will be government appointees, the
remaining available posts, as the bills proposed, will be elected by
stockholders. Avena said that if no OFWs will become stockholders, there
will be no other members in the board other than government personnel.
Avena also questioned
some provisions like the inclusion of private negotiations instead of
public bidding and dismissal or suspension of officers or employees which
are not based on the Civil Service Law.
She added that words
like “particularly,” “preferably” and “priority” which were used in the
bills are just some of the words lawyers use to confuse. In the bills, it
was stated “grant loans particularly to OFW’s and their family
members” or “to grant loans and other financial assistance preferably
to Filipino overseas workers, their spouses, their compulsory heirs.”
Although it seemed
that these bills would give priority to OFWs and their families, Avena
said these did not state that the OFW bank will exclusively serve them.
In Villar’s version,
it was stated that acquisition or ownership of “housing projects
preferably for the benefit of Filipino overseas workers, their spouses
or compulsory heirs.”
OFW group
representatives however doubted the intention of this provision since it
was the proponent, Villar, who owns housing business projects.
Efforts to block
It was the first time
that PAMTCI has engaged in this kind of discussion, said its president
Marle San Pedro. “Consultation, accountability and transparency are
important for a major plan like this,” she said noting that it is more
important to involve OFWs themselves. San Pedro said that in 2005, 25
percent of OFW deployment were seafarers.
Bragas-Regalado said
that groups under Migrante network have been conducting discussions on the
OFW bank since its announcement in February. In fact, she said that 99
migrant groups in Hong Kong have vowed to block its creation.
“We remind Arroyo
that the OWWA is a trust fund and not a personal piggy bank wherein she
can dip her deceitful hands,” she said.
In the forum, present
migrant groups representatives were given a copy of the unity statement
against the OFW bank prepared by the OFW Network for Empowerment (ONE).
Meanwhile, Pasalo
expressed confidence that when the same discussion is presented to her
colleagues, the OFW bank “will not pass with the (OWWA) board,” admitting
that many really want to get funds from OWWA.
There are 12 members
in the OWWA board: seven from the government, and five industry-based.
Pasalo believe that it is still a “thinking board.” But for another
official who requested anonymity, it is just another “rubber stamp” board.
“Hindi sila
makapalag dahil nandun si secretary,” he told Bulatlat,
referring to former Labor and Employment Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas.
(They cannot resist since the secretary is there.) The labor secretary
automatically sits as the OWWA Board of Trustees chair.
“Kaya kami nagra-rally
dun, dahil hindi sila makakilos,” the source added. (That is
the reason why we staged rallies there, because they cannot do anything.)
He, however, is uncertain as to what kind of leadership newly appointed
Labor Secretary Arturo D. Brion has.
But the source, who
is also an OWWA official, is convinced it will just be another “milking
cow of the government” given the composition of the board in the proposed
OFW bank who would be mainly government appointees. Bulatlat
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