This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. VII, No. 5, March 4-10, 2007
MIGRANT WATCH
In urgent need of
spine operation
Should the employer and the government look after overseas Filipino workers (OFWs)
who figure in accidents? Apparently not always. Based on a case of an OFW who
had a car accident that left him paralyzed and in need of a spine operation, the
answer is no since the accident happened on a Friday, a non-working day in Saudi
Arabia. BY
AUBREY MAKILAN Two months after the
accident, a Saudi-based overseas Filipino worker (OFW) has yet to undergo the
urgently needed operation of his spine. Will he end up like the other two OFWs
in Riyadh who met an accident and died? On Jan. 12, Felix Pascual,
Jr.was on board a camper vehicle with five other Filipinos when one of its tires
blew up. Felix and his two other companions who were seated at the roofless
pick-up bed were injured and in critical condition. One of his companions died
on the spot while another one died just recently, Migrante International
reported. Meanwhile, 50-year-old
Felix remains paralyzed and is confined at the privately-owned Huraymila
Hospital in Riyadh after his spinal cord was badly injured. The spine operation,
however, should be done at a public hospital which has the necessary facilities.
At present, he is still in the said hospital’s intensive care unit. Felix’s family in the
Philippines learned about his condition through a family friend in Saudi Arabia. Leninda, Felix’s daughter,
told Bulatlat that a Filipina nurse attending to her father texted her
that they would need about P650,000 ($13,342.91, based on an exchange rate of
P48.715 per US dollar) for the transfer to a public hospital. But the employer and the
Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), Leninda said, are still debating
as to who will shoulder the expenses incurred at the private Huraymila hospital.
Slow government response A week after the accident
(Jan. 19), Leninda and her mother Josefina went to the Department of Foreign
Affairs (DFA) to ask for assistance. They requested financial assistance so that
Josefina could visit and take care of her husband while in the hospital. But Dennis Bregalla, DFA
case officer for Riyadh, told them that there are also many cases in need of
financial support, Leninda said. She then asked for the immediate transfer of
his father to a public hospital for his spine operation but to no avail. Leninda’s uncle traveled
from Canada to Saudi Arabia and stayed there for two weeks to check on Felix’s
condition. He also followed up Felix’s case to government agencies in Riyadh. To
their dismay, Leninda said, his uncle was not able to get any assistance for
Felix during his two-week stay. The Pascual family also
approached the mayor of Parañaque City, their place of residence, for
assistance. The mayor’s staff suggested that they approach Migrante
International for help. During another meeting with
the DFA on Feb. 2, Leninda and Josephina were accompanied by Migrante
International case officer Jonathan Panlilio. Leninda was surprised when
Bregalla responded to them more positively, saying that the DFA would shoulder
the hospital expenses if the employer failed to do so. The DFA officer also said
they would try to get a visa for her mother. “Para bang kung kami
lang (ng nanay ko) ang pupunta di nila kami pinapansin, wala silang pakialam,”
(If only my mother and I went to the DFA again, we would be ignored, they
wouldn’t care.) she said. Panlilio, on the other
hand, criticized the DFA’s slow action on the case. He said that the agency only
reported Felix’s case to its office in Riyadh on Jan. 24, five days after the
family informed the agency of his condition on Jan. 19. The DFA sent another
letter to the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh on Jan. 31 to follow up the case. “Ang tagal na walang
report from embassy, ang haba ng panahong naaksaya na umasa lang sila sa
sulat,” (There was no report from the embassy for a long time and a lot of
time was wasted just waiting for the letter.) said Panlilio. Panlilio followed up their
request for Felix’s transfer on Jan. 30, but the OWWA mistakenly referred to the
request as for “repatriation” instead of hospital transfer so the migrant leader
had to call the office for clarification. After weeks of following up
the case, Leninda expressed her frustration because they had to call these
agencies every week just to remind them of their request for assistance for his
father. Evading responsibility? In response to Migrante’s
constant follow-up of Felix’s case, the DFA wrote them a letter dated Feb. 9
which read, “Per report from the embassy, POLO-Riyadh welfare officer Abdulghani
K.Umeg is closely monitoring the condition of OFW Pascual and is in contact with
the latter’s employer Mr. Al-Dahas. Mr. Al-Dahas requested recommendation from
Prince Sultan to effect the transfer of OFW Pascual from Huraymila Hospital to a
military hospital in Riyadh.” Felix’s family and Migrante,
however, noted that in the letter, the DFA said that Felix is not covered by
medical insurance. It read, “The car accident happened on a Friday, not an
official working day and subject OFW is allegedly not covered by any medical
insurance.” Felix has been working as a
mechanic with the Saudi Tech Workshop for 17 years before the accident happened. When confronted, Bregalla,
Panlilio said, relayed to them the employer’s claim that the six Filipinos were
going to a cockfight on that day. “Mukhang tumatakas sa responsibility
ang employer dahil sa ipinipilit nito na Friday ay non-working
day nang naganap ang aksidente at hindi covered ng insurance.” (It
appears that the employer is evading its responsibility since it insists that
the accident happened on a Friday which is a non-working day and is therefore
not covered by the insurance.) Bulatlat © 2007 Bulatlat
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Paralyzed
OFW Awaits Government, Employer Support
Bulatlat