OWWA releases $2 million for repatriation of overseas workers

Amid controversy of missing funds, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) approved yesterday the release of an additional $2 million for the repatriation of distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from war-torn Lebanon.

OWWA board of trustees member and Philippine Association of Mediterranean Agencies Deploying Labour (PAMADEL) president Estrelita Hizon said they have allocated additional funds to ensure the continued repatriation of Filipino workers from the war-torn country.

"We are not waiting for the funds to run out so we are allocating fresh funding," she said.

Hizon also belied reports that the government lacks funds for the repatriation.

Earlier, Ambassador to Lebanon Alfrancis Bichara alleged that the Philippine embassy in Lebanon is already running out of money and that he has yet to receive fresh funds from Manila despite President Arroyo’s order for the allocation of P150 million for the repatriation of OFWs.

A visibly enraged OWWA chief Marianito Roque demanded an immediate investigation against Bichara for coming out with what he said were unfounded accusations against the government.

"There is really nothing to be worried or alarmed about. We are doing our job, it’s just that there is a misguided ambassador who seems not to be in control of his own people," Roque said.

He said the Philippine embassy in Lebanon has the needed funds but Bichara was apparently not aware of it.

According to Roque, the ambassador was obviously not talking with his people and was not aware of what was happening within his jurisdiction.

"He has not talked to his people, his finance officer, he is not even in control of his own embassy," Roque said. "He was not even in Beirut (when the war erupted) and when he came he started doing a lot of accusations."

Based on Bichara’s report, opposition Sen. Jinggoy Estrada called for an investigation into the alleged missing P8 billion in OWWA funds for the repatriation of workers from Lebanon.

"There is no missing fund. We have them all here," Roque said, adding that Bichara was "imagining his problem" when he made the allegations.

Roque added that Bichara is set to issue an apology for his allegation.

Last week, OWWA allocated an initial $2 million for the evacuation of an estimated 2,000 Filipinos from Lebanon. The fund covered the transportation cost and other incidental expenses related to repatriation.

About 700 OFWs have already been repatriated since the war broke out in Lebanon last July 12.

Meanwhile, Hizon reported that member agencies of PAMADEL have agreed to redeploy abroad Filipino workers displaced by the ongoing war in Lebanon without collecting placement fees.

"To help ease the burden of our workers from Lebanon, our member agencies agreed not to collect placement fees if they would decide to seek employment in other Middle East countries," Hizon said.

Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) chief Rosalinda Baldoz said her office is ready to facilitate the immediate redeployment of displaced workers from Lebanon.

"We would redeploy them if they would choose to work again as domestic helpers or look for other jobs in other Middle East countries but of course their deployment would depend on the availability of job orders," Baldoz said.

Aside from the redeployment program, the government has also vowed to facilitate the hiring of displaced workers from Lebanon in local jobs as well as provide livelihood assistance.

‘Work as a team’

Meanwhile, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesman Gilberto Asuque said yesterday that all agencies involved in implementing Oplan Sagip OFWs should work as a team, with President Arroyo as the team leader.

"The President is in charge of Oplan Sagip OFWs. We will implement it and her instructions," Asuque said. "Let us wait for (DFA Secretary Alberto Romulo) and we will follow his instructions for those civil servants involved in Oplan Sagip."

Asuque’s statement was echoed by Senators Mar Roxas and Richard Gordon, who urged government officials involved in the repatriation to work as a team.

Bichara had apologized to Romulo and said there was a miscommunication among embassy staff regarding the funds for repatriation.

Asuque said the DFA released on Thursday the amount of $150,000 to the embassy. The day before, the DFA received Bichara’s request to replenish embassy funds and the Home Office sent the money through telegraphic transfer.

As of July 26, the DFA said the embassy has $17,848 cash on hand and another $69,917.50 in a Lebanon bank.

In a related development, a seventh batch of 60 OFWs, excluding two half-Lebanese children, came home on board a Qatar Airways flight yesterday afternoon at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

Many of the OFWs said they were relieved to finally be home after suffering many anxious moments in Beirut.

Esmely Reyes, the mother of the two half-Lebanese children, said she has mixed feelings in returning to the Philippines since it made her sad to be apart from her Lebanese husband, who has returned to his work in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. — With Pia Lee-Brago, Rainier Allan Ronda, Marvin Sy