VICE PRES. BINAY ASKS FOR P24-M REPATRIATION BUDGET FOR SAUDI OFWs
MANILA, APRIL 18, 2011 (STAR) By Mike Frialde [EARLIER PHOTO - Elsie Dominguez, a Filipino hotel employee repatriated from Libya embraces her co-worker before they part ways at Manila's NAIA, Philippines on Sunday Feb. 27, 2011. Philippine VicePresident Jejomar Binay has traveled to Kuwait and Acting Foreign Secretary Alberto del Rosario has gone to the border region between Libya and Tunisia to help oversee the evacuation of some of the 26,000 Filipino workers trying to flee from troubled Libya. PHOTO&TEXT FROM AP]
Vice President Jejomar Binay has asked Malacañang for the release of money from the President's Social Fund for the immediate repatriation of some overstaying overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Saudi Arabia.
[15th Vice President of the Philippines, JEJOMAR BINAY]
In his letter to President Aquino, Binay asked for the release of P23,640,030 from the President's Social Fund or any funding source to buy plane tickets for 1,084 OFWs staying at the Hajj Terminal in Jeddah.
The Vice President, also presidential adviser on OFWs, noted that the government is paying 15 riyals daily for every OFW housed at the Hajj terminal, which creates a "serious drain" on the "limited resources" of the Philippine embassy in Saudi.
The Saudi Arabian government is extending full cooperation in providing necessary travel clearances, but we need to provide the air tickets to bring them (OFWs) home to the Philippines," he said.
Binay added that there are still around 4,500 overstaying Filipinos in Saudi who are awaiting repatriation and whose total airfare is pegged at P143 million.
"The President has previously authorized this funding, as requested by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). But the DBM (Department of Budget and Management) simply referred to it back to the DFA. This will not solve the problem," he said.
"The DFA's Assistance to Nationals (ATN) Fund is limited to specific programs and is now depleted, and cannot possibly be tapped to fund this repatriation without disabling those programs," Binay added.
He said the DFA has absorbed a 40-percent budget cut from P19 billion in 2010 to P10.98 billion this year. This, he said, reduced the department's ATN Fund from P200 million to P109.3 million. The fund is used for repatriation, shipment of remains, medical assistance and many others.
Last month, Binay went on an official mission to Saudi Arabia and secured the Kingdom's approval to facilitate the repatriation of the 4,500 OFWs, most of whom are staying in private homes.
Migrante hits leniency of embassy officials
Meanwhile, a migrant workers group has accused Philippine embassy officials in Saudi Arabia yesterday of leniency in handling important cases on pressing OFWs concern.
"Based on pending cases and the numerous complaints we have been receiving from OFWs, embassy officials have been noticed to have an easygoing attitude in dealing with cases to the point of neglecting these cases that need urgent intervention from the embassy," said Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona.
He said one example is the case of Sophia, not her real name, who has been sent to jail for alleged immorality case when she along with other two Pakistanis were arrested in a raid on a house in Riyadh.
"She has been detained for more than two months now and from the very beginning we have asked embassy officials to attend to her case. As per our investigation she, along with 10 more OFWs, was a victim of human smuggling," Monterona said.
Upon following up her case with the Philippine embassy, it was known that she had not been visited at Al Nisa jail in Riyadh despite promises by embassy officials that she will be visited to get information from her and thereby provide her assistance.
"This is reflective on the poor leadership of Consul General Ezzadin, designated as charge de affaires of Philippine embassy in Riyadh, over his staff. Sadly, even Congen Tago could not give us update on high profile cases precisely because he does not know and does not even care about these OFWs cases," he said.
Monterona said another example would be the case of murdered OFW Romilyn Eroy-Ibañez, 22, from North Cotabato, whose remains have yet to be repatriated. She died on Sept. 2, 2010 in a hospital in Al-Khobar, of several stab wounds and acid ingestion.
"When I sent an email to Congen Tago last week to follow Eroy-Ibañez's case and five other OFWs for repatriation as per the request of families in the Philippines, he just simply told us not to issue statement. It's either he does not know the update of these cases or he does not want to give updated information of the status of these cases despite plea from the families," he said. – Michael Punongbayan
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Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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