Group seeks probe of OFW legal aid fund use

MANILA, Philippines - Congress should investigate the alleged underutilization of the government’s Legal Assistance Fund (LAF) despite the high number of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in distress, a group said yesterday.

Connie Bragas-Regalado, who chairs the Migrante party-list group, noted that the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) admitted that the government allotted less than the mandated P100 million for the LAF each year since President Aquino took office in 2010.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) reportedly allotted smaller amounts to the LAF for the past years because “utilization is low,” she said.

“There is a need for the DFA to make a public accounting on why, despite the overwhelming need by OFWs in distress for legal assistance, the LAF has been ‘underutilized’ in the past fiscal years under Aquino,” Regalado said.

Based on DFA data, only 258 out of almost 6,000 OFWs in jail as of 2014 received LAF subsidy, she said.

Regalado also said the DFA should explain why, according to a 2012 Commission on Audit report, the “recorded utilization” of the LAF of P6 million was “overstated” by P2.3 million.          

“Does this mean that the LAF had been subjected to abuse and misuse at the expense of OFWs on death row and in jail?” she said.

Regalado alleged that payments made to private lawyers who provided legal services to OFWs in distress exceeded the ceiling set by the DFA.

The DFA also reported that Mary Jane Veloso, who was convicted of smuggling heroin into Indonesia, was never given LAF subsidy.

“The Aquino administration clearly does not prioritize providing legal and welfare services for OFWs in distress,” Regalado said.

She said no money was allotted to the LAF in the 2016 national budget when millions of pesos in taxes are imposed on OFWs through various fees.