OFWs: Abandoned in War
Zones, Ignored at Home
Overseas Filipino
workers are dubbed as “modern-day heroes” by government. Rightly so,
because their remittances prop up the economy by bringing in the
much-needed dollars and stimulating domestic consumer spending. They are
also “modern-day heroes” because they risk life and limb just to provide a
decent income for their families. The sad part about being heroes is that
they are left to fend for themselves when disaster strikes, just like the
wars in the Middle East. And in spite of news releases by government
announcing various forms of assistance allotted to them, the reality on
the ground is that many among them have not received what is due them
because of “lack of funds.”
BY AUBREY SC MAKILAN
Bulatlat
Part 3:
Terrorized in Iraq
IRAQ VICTIM:
Ronald Dayao shows the 74 stitches that his
injuries from a bombing in Iraq, where he worked,
required |
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s all-out support
for the war in Iraq has caused the death of overseas
Filipino workers (OFWs), said Connie Bragas-Regalado,
Migrante International chairperson. Among those
killed in U.S. military camps were Rodrigo Reyes,
Raul Carlos Flores and Raymond Natividad.
Just recently, Filipino truck drivers Rogelio Alere
Saraida and Carlito Sotes Mainit suffered the same
fate in two separate incidents, a grenade attack and
a roadside bomb in Iraq.
But other OFWs who only suffered injuries felt
luckier for being alive.
Wounded
Natividad’s co-workers, Leopoldo Soliman and Roland
Dayao were among the
Filipino workers
wounded in Camp Anaconda, the U.S.
military base in Balad, north of Baghdad, capital
city of war-torn Iraq. The mortar that killed
Natividad, on May 11, 2004, also hit Soliman who was
wounded in the left thigh and
Dayao
who was hit by shrapnel causing his intestines to
protrude.
|
Both went home on May 19, 2004 with other OFWs and
Natividad’s remains.
Soliman and Dayao were just two of thousands of
Filipinos who have risked their lives to work for the
reconstruction of Iraq after the United States’
invasion. At least 25,000 workers were hired for the
reconstruction effort. The offer of a salary of U.S.
$615 a month was too much for undergraduates like
Soliman to ignore.
Dayao had 74 stitches. Soliman underwent skin
grafting, an operation to attach healthy skin from
another part of his body to the damaged part of his
left thigh. Soliman said he had the operation in the
Philippines because he needed the assistance and care
of his family.
Ignored
Soliman and Dayao were reluctant to agree to
interviews, saying they have been over-exposed but
nobody has paid any attention to their plight.
When Bulatlat interviewed
Soliman in 2004,
he said he has not received a single centavo of
financial support from the government. Soliman paid
for his medical expenses out of his own pocket, which
included his weekly physical therapy sessions costing
P3, 000 ($59.41 at an exchange rate of $1=P50.49) per
session for several months.
Soliman has not fully recovered yet. Bragas-Regalado
said they heard that he was still injecting steroids
to heal the damaged part. But the migrant group also
said that Soliman has expressed readiness to take the
risk once more as a U.S. military camp aide in Iraq.
As he was injured at work, he is considered “on
emergency leave” and will be rehired as soon as he
completely recovers.
More in danger zones
At present, the Philippine Overseas Employment
Administration (POEA) has suspended deployment in
Lebanon and Iraq and restricted work in Afghanistan.
But POEA data showed that
deployment
of OFWs in Iraq and Afghanistan even increased since
2003. Bragas-Regalado said that although OFWs are not
deployed directly to Iraq, many of them cross over
from other countries for higher-paying mercenary
jobs.
Based on the July-December 2004 Report to Congress
prepared by the Office of the Undersecretary for
Migrant Workers Affairs (OUMWA) of the Department of
Foreign Affairs (DFA), there are about 6,020 OFWs in
Iraq. Of this, about 2,000 OFWs are undocumented.
Bulatlat
Part 1: Begging to Be Back Home from Lebanon
Part 2: A Gulf War Claimant Waiting in Vain
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