Most OFWs able to leave after airport shutdown

MANILA, Philippines — Only a few overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) affected by last Sunday’s airspace shutdown are still unable to leave and awaiting flights for their jobs abroad, according to the Department of Migrant Workers.

DMW Undersecretary Hans Cacdac reported that the government has assisted about 3,000 affected OFWs needing to rebook their flights.

“We are not seeing rebooking issues now,” Cacdac said in Filipino during the Laging Handa public briefing yesterday.

He noted that some of those who sought rebooking were already able to leave, but there are still those awaiting their rebooked flights on Jan. 6 and 7.

The DMW is providing accommodation until the OFWs are able to depart, according to Cacdac.

DMW Secretary Susan Ople previously ordered all recruitment and manning agencies and labor attachés to assist OFWs in explaining the delay in their arrival to their foreign employers.

During the same public briefing, Cacdac gave assurance that the government is exerting efforts to address the plight of OFWs affected by the ban on deployment to India.

He said the DMW and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) are working closely to resolve the issue.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration declared India as a “non-compliant” country based on the assessment of the DFA.

Deployment of OFWs to non-compliant countries is prohibited under the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act.

‘Keep their jobs’

OFWs who were trapped at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) due to the New Year’s Day technical glitch should be able to keep their jobs, a key House of Representatives official urged the DMW.

“I am urgently calling on the DMW to give our OFWs the necessary protection from termination or sanction, and reassure them that their jobs are safe and that they don’t need to worry,” Kabayan party-list Rep. Ron Salo said yesterday.

“Our OFWs should not be the ones to suffer because of this disruption,” Salo, who chairs the House committee on overseas workers affairs, added.

He called on Ople to take “necessary actions to protect the welfare of OFWs.”

“Private recruitment agencies should immediately coordinate with their foreign counterparts or foreign employers to provide updates on the flight status of affected OFWs,” Salo said.

“Manning agencies should likewise undertake the same measure with their foreign principals concerning affected seafarers,” he added.

The lawmaker also called on other government agencies to ensure that the needs of OFWs and other passengers are provided for while they are stranded at airports, following fears raised by OFWs returning to their employers that they might get terminated or rejected by their employers for failure to show up on time.

“We are fully aware of and understand the fears of our OFWs. The government must do everything in its power to ensure that our OFWs are not sanctioned, or worse, terminated because of this unfortunate event,” Salo said.

Special rate

Meanwhile, Sen. Raffy Tulfo appealed to airline companies to give a special airfare rate to returning OFWs, who dream of being with their families after a long separation from them.

Tulfo said the fare price in and out of the country has doubled due to the breakdown of the Communications, Navigation and Surveillance System for Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).

He added that many OFWs delayed their long-planned vacations to be with their families to celebrate the past Christmas and New Year due to high airfare rates.

Several OFWs who were distressed by the destruction of the CNS/ATM sought the senator’s help and expressed their frustration due to the excessive exaggeration of other airline companies in raising fares.

Tulfo noted, for example, the one-way flight from Manila to Japan costs from P90,000 to P140,000, which cannot be afforded by OFWs who have limited budgets.

The STAR, however, checked yesterday afternoon with the website of an airline that showed a roundtrip Manila-Japan-Manila ticket was pegged at a little over P20,000, while another airline set the fare at over P40,000.

Tulfo specifically urged Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific to consider providing a preferential pricing system for OFWs, who are considered national heroes.

“It would be unfair for our OFWs to absorb the fault or negligence of the CAAP for the maintenance of their CNS/ATM system. Many of them only come home once… a year. The money that was supposed to be a welcome or support for their family was forced to go to the fare,” he said.

The sudden increase in fares is said to be caused by the demand-based algorithm that airlines use to impose airfare increases, according to an airline company that spoke with Tulfo’s office.

The senator said his office is coordinating with the DMW for possible subsidizing of discounted airfares for OFWs affected by this problem.

“I stand with my colleagues, especially Sen. Grace Poe and Senate President Migz Zubiri, in initiating an investigation as to the breakdown of essential navigational and air traffic control systems,” he added, noting this is one of the first things the Senate will discuss when it resumes session on Jan. 23.

No penalties

In a related development, foreign nationals whose flights were canceled or delayed after the CAAP’s Air Traffic Management Center encountered problems were given by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) until Jan. 12 to fix their flights without added immigration penalties.

In a statement, BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco noted that foreign nationals whose visas and Emigration Clearance Certificate have expired during the period when the technical problem occurred at the NAIA were given extensions until Thursday next week.

“Considering what happened to many foreign nationals who were unable to leave on their scheduled flights, we issued this advisory to assist them in rescheduling, without having to worry about overstaying,” Tansingco said.

“This extension is given in the spirit of the hospitality of the Filipino people. Those who were affected did not mean to overstay their visas, hence, appropriate considerations are given to them,” he added.

Foreign nationals are only required to present their confirmed ticket showing their canceled flights or boarding passes from Jan. 1 or onwards, according to the BI official. – Cecille Suerte Felipe, Delon Porcalla, Robertzon Ramirez