MANILA – At least 55 distressed Filipina workers staying at shelter run by the Philippine government in Saudi Arabia are begging for assistance so they can return home.
The Filipino migrant rights group Migrante-Middle East and North Africa (M-MENA) said the OFWs are at the Bahay Kalinga in Riyadh and have long been crying for repatriation.
M-MENA coordinator John Leonard Monterona citing various reports from Migrante colleagues in Riyadh, and endorsement letters from Migrante International-Rights and Welfare Assistance Committee, said confirmed the report and said there are also children among the distressed OFWs.
“The distressed women OFWs and their children should not be begging for assistance from the Aquino administration. In the first place, the government is duty bound to provide on-site assistance to them especially under miserable conditions,” Monterona said in a statement sent to the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
He said most of the women OFWs have been staying at the Bahay Kalinga for more than 3 months; some have been there for over a year now.
He said there are also more than 500 stranded OFWs staying at the “Tent City” in Jeddah since April 2013.
“Being at the Bahay Kalinga for long only showed that their repatriation has not been given due attention, if not have been neglected at all, by the Philippine embassy and labor officials in Riyadh,” Monterona said.
He said if the reasons for the delays of their repatriation are the pending payment of penalties due to violation of Saudi immigration policy and airplane tickets, then the Aquino government should allocate a funding for the OFWs.
“Where these billions of pesos in pork barrel allocations such as the Special Purpose Fund came from? Obviously, from the peoples taxes and other state exactions this government imposes to its people,” Monterona said.
Monterona noted the OFWs remittances sent to the Philippines last year reached to $21 billion.
“These huge OFWs remittances keep the economy afloat due to massive local consumption and spending by the families of 12 million OFWs and overseas Filipinos abroad and the government is earning a lot from value-added tax and expanded value-added tax on products and services,” he said.
“Dito nagmumula ang galit naming mga OFWs sa mga nagdaang administrasyon hanggang sa administrasyon ni Aquino. Kung para sa kagalingan at kapakanan naming mga OFWs at aming pamilya, sasabihing walang pondo ang gobyerno. Pero kung para sa mga Kapamilya, Kaibigan, Kaklase, at Kabarilan, sa kanila ipinamudmud ang pera ng bayan,” Monterona said.
“Yet, the government. did not even bother to stop OFWs premium hikes in Philhealth from P900 to P1,200 to P2,400 by October 2013. He also allowed SSS to increase premium contributions, where there are thousands of OFWs are members. Kaya tuloy ang protesta naming mga OFWs laban sa lahat ng porma ng pork allocations kasama ang trilyong peso ng Pangulo. Pinaghahandaan, kinukonsulta natin at i-aanunsyo ang darating na ‘Zero Remittance Day’ ngayong buwan ng Octobre at sa mga susunod pang mga buwan.”
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