Ceiling for OFW fund not an excuse, says Migrante

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Migrants rights organizations on Wednesday said they found the Department of Foreign Affairs’ reasons for not maximizing the use of a P52-million legal aid fund for overseas Filipino workers “unacceptable and irrational.”

The DFA attributed the non-use of the fund to a clause in the Migrant Workers Act stipulating a “ceiling” for the amount of assistance that is allowed per OFW in distress. It reported that only 196 OFWs had availed themselves of the fund from 2011 to August of this year.

“We find this justification unacceptable and extremely irrational. Provided that there is a ceiling, the number of OFWs in distress and in dire need of legal assistance is definitely more than 196 since 2011,” said Migrante sectoral party-list president Connie Bragas-Regalado.

She said there were at least 7,000 OFWs in jails abroad and 123 OFWs on death row.

“The common occurrence is they get arrested and undergo investigation without any representation or legal assistance from the Philippine Embassy. Because of this, they are deprived of due process and go straight to jail without any legal assistance from the government,” Bragas-Regalado said.

She also said that OFWs who died under mysterious circumstances also were not given legal assistance.

She said that since 2010, 15 more OFW deaths under mysterious circumstances were brought to her group’s attention. She added that the cases suggested foul play and “there were also indications of organ trafficking.”

“Their cases remain uninvestigated and unresolved to this day. So how can the DFA now justify these idle funds? This is a concrete example of the Philippine government’s criminal neglect that endanger the lives and welfare of OFWs,” Bragas-Regalado said.

Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona said that amid the surge in distressed OFWs asking for legal assistance, it was prudent that the legal fund be utilized to provide effective and efficient services to them.

“Obviously, it’s not a question of having no fund. It is a question of a properly allotted government fund not being utilized. And it shows the government’s ineffectiveness and inefficiency in handling the legal assistance program, which is a failure,” Monterona said.