Makabayan bloc files bill allocating P500M legal aid fund for distressed OFWS

THE Makabayan bloc has filed a bill allocating P500 million this year to shore up the Legal Assistance Fund for distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

The P500 million appropriation is being made amid reports the Filipino death convict Mary Jane Veloso did not get the proper legal assistance from the government for her drug trafficking case in Indonesia in 2010.

“In reports and claims of Veloso’s family, Veloso was not provided with timely and adequate government assistance. Despite their efforts and requests to the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) since 2010, Veloso was not provided with a lawyer or translator by the Philippine government since her interrogation by the Indonesian police until the end of the trial,” the Makabayan bloc said in its House Bill 5704.

The bill was jointly authored by  Reps. Neri Colmenares and Carlos Isagani Zarate of Bayan Muna, Luz Ilagan and Emmi de Jesus of Gabriela, Antonio Tinio of ACT Teachers, Fernando Hicap of Anakpawis and Terry Ridon of Kabataan.

The bill aims to provide a supplemental fund of P500 million for legal assistance fund for FY 2015 to counter act the veto of President Aquino in this year’s budget.

The  President issued a  conditional veto on Special Provision Section 11 of the Department of Foreign Affairs’ (DFA) Legal Assistance Fund for OFWS citing lack of funds

Makabayan claimed that this veto showed the lack of empathy of the President on 1,100 OFWs languishing in jails overseas,  especially those in death row.

Makabayan claimed that the government only took action when public outrage escalated over the Veloso case.