Lawmakers want increase in assistance to OFWs

MANILA, Philippines -  The execution yesterday of three Filipino convicted drug couriers in China has prompted lawmakers to call for a substantial increase in funds for legal assistance to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) facing criminal charges in their host countries.

Seven representatives of militant party-list groups in the House of Representatives proposed that the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) legal assistance fund for OFWs should be increased from the present P30 million to P500 million.

The authors of the supplemental budget bill are Representatives Teddy Casiño and Neri Colmenares of Bayan Muna, Luz Ilagan and Emmi de Jesus of Gabriela, Rafael Mariano of Anakpawis, Raymond Palatino of Kabataan, and Antonio Tinio of ACT Teachers.  

They made the proposal in Bill 4406, which seeks the appropriation of a P9-billion supplemental budget for this year to augment funds for “unforeseen circumstances and developments that affect our OFWs in Asia, North Africa and the Middle East.”

Some P5.5 billion of the P9 billion in additional funds would go to the DFA, including the P500-million augmentation to the OFW legal assistance fund.

“Our foreign policy will be a complete failure if government cannot allocate funds for the safety and bailout of Filipinos caught in dire situations abroad,” Casiño said.

The lawmakers extended their condolences and sympathies to the families of Sally Villanueva, Elizabeth Batain and Ramon Credo who were executed by lethal injection in China.

“Even as we are saddened by the news of their execution, lessons must be learned. Much needs to be done so that no other OFW will have the same fate as Sally Villanueva, Elizabeth Batain and Ramon Credo,” Ilagan said.

She said thousands of OFWs are in very similar circumstances in various jails in China and the Middle East.

“We have documented at least 125 OFWs in death row, of which 85 are drug-related cases. There are over 7,000 OFWs in jail in different parts of the world,” she said.

DFA officials have assured the families of Villanueva, Batain and Credo that they have provided the necessary assistance to the three suspected drug couriers, including lawyers and interpreters.         

The bulk of the proposed P9-billion 2011 supplemental budget would be used to extricate OFWs in countries facing political turmoil such as Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Syria, Yemen, and Bahrain.

Of the amount, P500 million would go to the Department of Labor and Employment, P500 million to the Department of Trade and Industry and P2.5 billion to the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

Local workers yesterday expressed grief over the execution of three Filipinos convicted of drug trafficking in China.

The Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) said the execution of the three Filipinos proved once again that the government is incapable of protecting the people.

“This is very sad day for the Filipino workers and people. The execution of Sally Ordinario-Villanueva, Elizabeth Batain and Ramon Credo is a painful reminder of how far Filipinos have been pushed by extreme poverty, chronic joblessness and low wages in the country, and how the Philippine government is powerless in protecting migrant Filipinos abroad,” KMU said in a statement.

KMU chair Elmer Labog said as fellow Filipinos, local workers could also feel the pain of Villanueva, Batain and Credo’s loved ones.         

KMU criticized President Aquino for issuing a “shallow” directive to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration to ensure that international drug syndicates will not recruit Filipinos again.

Labog said Aquino’s directive only showed that the government would not be doing much to really address poverty and unemployment in the country, but is desperately trying to appear to be doing something for the Filipino workers.

Retired Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz said it is heartbreaking for the young children of the three Filipinos executed in China, adding they would forever bear an inexplicable trauma in their minds.

Cruz said it’s so saddening to see the young kids crying, knowing their parent would be executed.

He said there are many Chinese in the Philippines who also commit grave offenses yet they are not sentenced to die.

Cruz said based on reports, there are many more Filipinos sentenced to die in China. “When will this ever end?” he asked.

The umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said the government should review and abandon its labor-export policy after the three Filipinos were executed in China.

“Government should work to provide long-term employment opportunities in the country so that Filipinos will not have to go abroad and be vulnerable to exploitation. Government should also exert more effort to protect OFWs from drug traffickers and others who are out to exploit them,” Bayan secretary-general Renato Reyes said. – With Mayen Jaymalin, Eva Visperas, Rhodina Villanueva, Sheila Crisostomo, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Sandy Araneta, Evelyn Macairan, Roel Pareño