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MANILA, Philippines ? In her meeting with United States President Barack Obama, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is urged to initiate a discussion on the unpaid insurance of the 10 overseas Filipino workers who have died or were injured in Afghanistan in a helicopter crash last July 19.
The 10 civilian employees of a US-based construction firm The AIM Group Inc. are entitled to $300,000 in war-zone insurance from US insurance firms paid $1.5-billion premiums by the US government, said Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. in a letter to Arroyo, copies of which were sent to media outfits.
However, Pimentel said, ?To the best of my information, the wounded workers and/or the heirs of those killed have applied for the benefits but the insurance companies like the American Insurance Group (AIG) have either rejected the applications or have offered token sums.?
He named the 10 OFWs: Celso Q. Caralde, Ely I. Carino, Ernesto C. De Vega, Manolito C. Hornilla, Leopoldo G. Jimenez Jr., Mark Joseph C. Mariano, Marvin P. Najera, Rene D. Taboclaon, Ricardo E. Vallejos, and Noli M. Vista.
Citing an article in Los Angeles Times, Pimentel also mentioned a similar incident that happened in Iraq.
?In an earlier incident that might be instructive, a Filipino worker, Rey Torres, was killed in Iraq. An American newspaperman, T. Christian Miller wrote in an article published in the Los Angeles Times on July 19, 2009 that the AIG had offered only $22,000 to the surviving heirs of Torres. Mr. Torres, a native of Pampanga, was supposed to receive insurance benefits amounting to at least $300,000. His heirs are contesting the offer through a lawyer but that will cost them a fortune and of course litigation time,? he said.
?Incidentally, as you know, the AIG is the parent company of the Phil-Am Life Insurance Corp. Phil-Am Life, I am told, is the only wholly owned subsidiary of AIG that did not suffer problems from the recent economic meltdown that hit many a major corporation in the US and in Europe. It might also be pertinent to mention this matter to the US President,? he added.
The two world leaders might also discuss the possibility of Philippines getting a reasonable yearly quota out of the expected 1,000,000 nurses that the US would reportedly need by 2021, Pimentel said.
?If we can get say a quota of 20,000 nurses a year, that would a great economic bonanza for our nurses and their families,? he said.
The US could also help solve the Moro secessionist problem in Muslim Mindanao ?not by going to war there but by providing educational, economic, and humanitarian assistance to the Moro peoples,? he said.
?Mrs. President, kindly forgive this offer of an unsolicited advice but I do hope that you would take it in the spirit in which it is given: to help our people and your administration get a better deal from the US which has always been our ally and our friend. God speed, Mrs. President,? was how Pimentel ended his letter to the President.
