P527M for repatriation tagged ‘insult’ to OFWs

LUCENA CITY—Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) contribute up to a trillion pesos to the economy, but only around P500 million is allocated in the national budget to help distressed OFWs abroad.

The disparity is glaring for a former OFW based here and a former congressman who used to head the House appropriations committee.

“Back then, we were told to wait for our repatriation because they (government people) were still waiting for the funds. But the agonizing wait for the budget seemed endless and [the funds] took several months to arrive,” said a former pipe welder in Saudi, recalling how he once lived a miserable life in a “tent city” in Jeddah last year.

The OFW requested that his identity be withheld so as not to jeopardize his return to the Middle East.

“We don’t need hosannas and alleluias as modern-day heroes every time we return. What we want is a little respect for our contribution to the economy,” he said.

Pastor Benny Abante, former vice chair of the House appropriations committee, said the allocation of P527 million to help distressed OFWs abroad was an insult to OFWs.

In a statement, he said that in Saudi alone, at least 1,000 OFWs were set to be deported. “In Libya, 10,000 of our countrymen are caught in the crossfire,” he added.

Recounting his own ordeal, the former OFW based here said OFWs were left on their own. “There is no government help,” he said.

Migrante International, a worldwide alliance of OFWs, has launched a crisis hotline for stranded Filipinos abroad.

In a statement on its website, Migrante chair Garry Martinez said the group continued to receive messages of distress from OFWs and their families.

Martinez said the Philippine government was not proactive in locating, securing and assuring Filipinos in conflict areas abroad.

In his statement, Abante said allotting just P527 million for distressed OFWs “is not only a mistake.”

“It represents the government turning its back on workers whom our government refers to as heroes,” he said.

“The ball is now in Congress’ court,” he said.