Libya repatriation: Gov’t action ‘too little, too late’

[chua_riwap]

Sabi nga ng isang OFW na nag-walkout sa OWWA:

"Ang kumpanya namin ang nagbayad sa tiket namin, at hindi ang OWWA. Bakit parang lumalabas na sila ang tumulong sa amin?"

"Pag lapag namin sa NAIA, all that OWWA can give us is a ball cap"





http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquire...ittle-too-late

MANILA, Philippines—The government may have acted “too little, too late” in evacuating thousands of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) out of troubled Libya, Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri said Sunday.

Zubiri observed that while its Asian neighbors had pulled out their nationals in the past two weeks, the Philippines had yet to organize a concrete, singular plan of action for the evacuation of thousands of Filipinos.

“It’s still chaotic for our OFWs. They have no clue where they’re supposed to go,” he said in an interview. “If we judge the response of our nation, compared with its Southeast Asian neighbors, we’re too little too late.”

Citing media reports, Zubiri said it was pitiful that the only assistance that government could give to distressed Filipinos were bus tickets to a nearby country in the early weeks of the unrest.

The first batch of displaced OFWs flew home on Saturday through the efforts of their employers, apprehensive about the fate of the thousands of their compatriots still in Libya that is wracked by protests against leader Moammar Gadhafi.

Zubiri wondered if the government had drawn up a concrete “plan of action” to repatriate the rest of the Filipinos, and if it had, who was the official in charge of this.

“What’s taking them too long to send a crisis team in the Middle East, and release more funds for the repatriation of the OFWs? OFWs are coming in in trickles. About time we try to sit down to draft a plan of action if the fighting escalates in Libya,” he said.

Who’s in charge?

By this time, the government should have designated an official in charge of the evacuation plan in the Middle East, instead of embassy officials implementing “small plans of action on the ground,” the senator said.

“We’re at a loss. Is it (Undersecretary) Esteban Conejos? Is it Secretary Albert del Rosario? Is it Vice President Jejomar Binay? Who’s the go-to guy in charge of the plan of action if trouble escalates in the Middle East? There’s no man in charge, and the plans of action are disparate,” he said.

Del Rosario quietly flew Friday night for Tunisia, joining Conejos, purportedly to oversee the repatriation of Filipino workers from Libya.

Stranded Filipinos

In Baguio City, Grail Tayab said her husband Dexter, a surveyor for an oil company in Libya, had called from an unspecified place at the border with Egypt after he was rescued by a diplomatic mission, along with 91 other Filipinos, at the Az-Zuwaytinah Terminal Tank Farm.

“He and his fellow workers were let off at the arrival area near the Egyptian border and discovered there were already 300 Filipinos stranded there. Many complained about being robbed,” she said.

Tayab said only one Philippine government representative was processing travel documents that could delay onward travel to Cairo to await a flight to Manila. “The process could take even longer,” she said.

She said her husband told her that the Filipinos were told it was uncertain if a bus would be available to bring them to Cairo.

“Their Thai colleagues were able to take the bus to Cairo already but the Filipinos are still stuck there. They were left there,” Tayab said in Filipino.

Food, blankets needed

“They have requested us, their families back home, to let the government know that if they need to stay there for a few more days, they should be supplied with food and blankets. The nights there are freezing and many of them are old. Only a few have the means to take care of themselves and they have no place to go to buy supplies,” Tayab said.

Even so, Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III did not think that the government had been sluggish in moving Filipinos out of Libya.

“I don’t find it slow. I can understand the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) and the executive department. They have to do a tough balancing act in order to make sure that they preserve the safety of Filipinos without necessarily hurting international ties with any of the other countries that are in turmoil,” he said in an interview.

Emergency powers

Sen. Ralph Recto, for his part, ruled out granting President Benigno Aquino III emergency powers to deal with the repatriation of Filipinos and oil price increases in the light of the crisis in the Middle East.

He said Mr. Aquino has ample resources and power to deal with the situation.

Recto said savings from interest payments on debt after the peso appreciated to P43 to a dollar, up from the P46-P48 assumed rate when the 2011 national budget was passed, among others, could be used to finance the repatriation of Filipinos.

“Resources are adequate. There’s no need for emergency powers,” he said.

He added that the government was not helpless against oil price increases. He said the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas could raise interest rates to curb inflation and strengthen the peso.

Recto also said that the Department of Energy should also keep in check the “greed” of oil companies and ensure that oil products are based on 30-

[Monseratto]

Imagine a headless chicken running around in circles. That's how PNoy's DFA seems to be doing...

[oliver1013]

Last week kasi sabi sa news i eevacuate na dapat, tapos andaming nagreklamo kesyo ayaw daw umuwi kasi pag umuwi daw sila, wala daw mapapala dito.

Another case of Sala sa init sala sa lamig

[ab_initio]

^^ it seems that mas traumatic umuwi dito and out of job kesa manatili dun.

pero, i don't get the rationale of OWWA distributing caps. why?

[chua_riwap]

^^ it seems that mas traumatic umuwi dito and out of job kesa manatili dun.

pero, i don't get the rationale of OWWA distributing caps. why?

Yun lang kaya nilang ibigay.....

Kaming mga OFWs are paying around P1,700+ for a 2 yr membership sa POEA. Tapos ganyan ang treatment ang nakukuha ng mga OFWs? Bagal nila kumilos!

[hondaboot]

what does the cap say

[chua_riwap]

what does the cap say

OWWA....like this.

[cast_no_shadow]

The cap? pa-pogi ng owwa isama mo pa yung bus nila..

My dad is an OFW sa mga ganyang issues kaya ang laki ng galit nila sa OWWA mga inutil nga daw, andami nangangailangan ng tulong sa ibang bansa pero parang petiks lang daw sila. Lalo sa nangyayari sa Libya effortless talaga, siguro it shows how poor our country is.. Yung ibang bansa kanya kanyang padala ng eroplano at barko mailikas lang mga kababayan nila..

Ang gobyerno naten? stay where you are, dun muna kayo sa employer niyo hanggat wala pang final na plano.. Brilliant!

[uls]

check this out

Migrante: OWWA collecting airfare from stranded OFWS for repatriation
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx...CategoryId=200

MANILA, Philippines – Officials of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) have been collecting money from Filipino workers who are stranded in deportation centers in Jeddah waiting for their repatriation, a migrant workers rights group claimed.

"We have been receiving complaints from distressed and stranded OFWs who are now at the deportation center... that OWWA officials are asking them to pay for their airfare tickets, so that they could be repatriated,” said Marlon Gatdula, Migrante-Saudi Arabia deputy secretary-general.

Gatdula said Filipinos at cell numbers 14 and 16 have been calling him since last week and claimed that OWWA employees Anthony Basil and Mashur Konting allegedly asked from them 1,200 to 2,000 Saudi riyals for their airfare tickets.

“Looking forward to be repatriated, some of the distress and stranded will try their best to get an amount for their airfare by asking help from their relatives in the Philippines, but what is confusing us is that there is a P100 million OWWA repatriation fund intended for that purpose,” Gatdula added.

amazing

[lancy09]

Nagbabayad ba ng Income Tax ang mga OFW? Curious lang. Mas may karapatan silang i-repatriate kung ganoon.

[cast_no_shadow]

Nagbabayad ba ng Income Tax ang mga OFW? Curious lang. Mas may karapatan silang i-repatriate kung ganoon.

They dont, but they pay OWWA insurance/membership..

[chua_riwap]

i think we have one tsikoteer from libya, his username is "chrismarte".
musta na kaya siya?

http://tsikot.yehey.com/forums/showt...t=77679&page=2

[shadow]

ang intindi ko sa explanation ng OWWA eh, most of the workers in Libya are skilled workers so kasama sa contract nila na employers nila ang sasagot sa mga evacuation nila in case mneron ganitong nangyari.

ang nakakatawa lang yun wala pa OWWA eh yun mga pinoy workers ang daming reklamo na walang ginagawa etc. pero nun andoon na ayaw na nilang sumama dahil voluntary repatriation ang sabi ng employers nila, so pinapapirma sila ng waiver na walang babayaran or wala sila ma claim sa employer nila pag sumama na sila sa OWWA, marami na nag atrasan...

[uls]

there are over 20,000 OFWs in Libya

to get out of Libya by land, they have to travel west to Tunisia or east to Egypt

the number of OFWs repatriated is very small

there are probably thousands of OFWs at the Tunisia-Libya and Egypt-Libya borders right now

and thousands more on the way to the borders

and thousands still trapped in Tripoli

food import and distribution in Libya has been disrupted for several days na

there is already food shortage in Libya

we're gonna hear a lot of horror stories from OFWs in the coming days

[chua_riwap]

Pataasan pala ng bidding sa mga vehicles, talo lagi ang Pinas sa bansang may pera.........

Kaya kawawa mga kabayans natin.



http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/03...-exodus-ordeal

When del Rosario’s team reached the Philippine Embassy in Tripoli, they immediately organized a convoy of 40 vans and buses to bring some 400 OFWs to the Tunisian border.

He said they had a hard time renting bigger buses to drive the OFWs to the border because they were outbid by other countries. Also, travelling overland was not easy. The team had to pass through about 20 checkpoints manned by either government or anti-government forces.

“There were about 20 checkpoints and as we approach these checkpoints I would say "Ok smile!" Let's see if we can get through this by smiling. We said we would utilize smile diplomacy,” he said.

The DFA secretary also told media the different means of transportation they planned to tap to get Filipinos out of Libya.

“We have studied the possibility of landing a plane to Tripoli but the airport closed up. In addition to that, we understood that the United Nations had imposed a no fly zone in Libya. We didn’t get the details on that until much later,” he said.

They also attempted to get a ship much earlier but other countries beat them to it by outbidding them.

"Each time that we would be at that point where we would finalize the contract of the ship, we would lose it for some reason. I think it is being sold to the highest bidder. Situation was such that we were being outbid by any other countries looking to get out as well,” he said.

The Philippine embassy in Greece was finally able to charter a ship, the Ionian Queen, to repatriate Filipinos from Libya.

The ship will transport Filipinos to the Island of Crete where a DFA crisis team will be waiting for them.

Del Rosario said they had to make do with little resources compared to other countries like Britain and the United States that have warships and use military aircraft to airlift their people.

The DFA chief, meanwhile, said they have a problem repatriating 6,000 Pinoy nurses in Libya because an order was reportedly released requiring health workers to stay in hospitals.

He said nurses on leave were able to go with the DFA team.

Del Rosario also advised OFWs to go to evacuation areas in Tripoli.

Del Rosario admitted that the government’s resources are limited but he believes that they still have a good working relationship in Libya.

“To begin with, our resources are so limited. I went there just to be sure that our strategy of protecting the overseas workers wasn’t late. We looked at possibilities. I think we have good working relations there,” Del Rosario said.

Del Rosario also defended the DFA from several criticisms it received from various sectors of society.

“I am not saying we have a perfect strategy there. We don’t. But we are trying to do our best,” del Rosario said in a press briefing at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

[tidus1203]

Survival of the fittest again in demonstration. Better be a FIRST WORLD citizen then...

[CVT]

Oh wow! With such big number of OFWs in Libya(~20K) and no traceability where each and everyone is located... To each his own ang magiging labanan niyan in the end....

Gamitan na ng text brigade, kung nasa kanila pa ang cellphone....

12.4K:knit:

[CVT]

Sabi nga ng isang OFW na nag-walkout sa OWWA:

"Ang kumpanya namin ang nagbayad sa tiket namin, at hindi ang OWWA. Bakit parang lumalabas na sila ang tumulong sa amin?"

"Pag lapag namin sa NAIA, all that OWWA can give us is a ball cap"

Ang akala ko pa naman, ibinibigay ang caps doon sa evacuation centers, para madaling ma-identify kung sinu-sino ang mga Pinoy sa dami ng tao roon....

Hindi pala,- dito na sa NAIA... Hay naku OWWA....

12.4K:knit:

[weisshorn]

Nagbabayad ba ng Income Tax ang mga OFW? Curious lang. Mas may karapatan silang i-repatriate kung ganoon.

OT: Sakit naman ng curiousity mo. Di porke hindi nagbabayad ng income tax ang OFW ay wala nang karapatan na i-repatriate. Hindi nga nagbabayad ng income tax pero ang familya dito sa Pilipinas ay nagbabayad ng lahat na taxes na pinapataw ng gobierno. Lahat ng charges, contributions at iba pang ni-require ng gobierno binabayaran ng OFW before deployment. Ang remittance na pinapadala ng OFW ay napakalaking tulong to keep this country's DOLLAR RESERVE. The money that OFW sent home help public spending to help this country's economy. Bakit nga ba nag-survive ang Pilipinas during Asian currency crisis noong 90's?? di ba dollar ng mga OFW ang may malaking na naitulong. They sacrifice to be away from their family to do all this things.

For OFW like me who works for about 30 years helping this country's economy and get nothing in return, much less a simple repatriation to get out of danger zone is a B#g B*&&$_t.

How about you? Anong tulong ang nagawa mo para sa bansa??

[shadow]

I'm trying my best to understand the DFA's situation, kung sabi ng mga OFW na hinde sila makalbas dahil meron mga armed rebels sa labas or blocked yun daanan, eh di ibig sabihin wala rin makakapasok doon sa area nila.

I mean it's not like na agad-agad andiyan na ang tao ng mga DFA, I assumed na short tayo sa finances and man power and based sa mga news 8+ hrs na land travel yun ibang areas kung nasaan ang yun mga pinoys. yun isang napanood ko 700+ kms sila away from Tripoli where doon yun mga meeting point. that's around 12+ hrs of travel.

saka yun numbers ng OFW ang intindi ko "deployed" numbers it means that kung ang isang OFW 3X siyang nakabalik na sa Libya so X3 ang bilang niya.