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Sen. Manuel Villar has facilitated the repatriation of 13 maltreated
overseas Filipino workers and a dependent this month. Most of them
have already returned to their respective places of origin.
With repatriation money provided by Villar, five
maltreated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Abu Dhabi finally
came home on April 24 after being stranded in this country.
The workers escaped from their employers due to
overwork, maltreatment, and insufficient food. Three of them had
been ill and needed medical attention.
Soon after they arrived, a team of Senate
doctors performed medical checkups on them upon their arrival at the
Senate President’s office.
Repatriated were Lea Malunes, 27, from Camarines
Sur; Salama Bakal, 28, from Cotabato City; Bernadette Romero, 38,
from Cavite; Luciana Lunar, 44, from Batangas; and Fennie Tiletile,
48, from Tagum City.
Villar has filed Senate Resolution No. 366
urging the Senate to conduct a comprehensive review of the
implementation of labor recruitment, anti-human smuggling and
immigration laws of the country.
“The OFWs are now considered the biggest
partner in our country’s economic development,” Villar stressed.
On April 21, Villar also welcomed at least eight
young Filipina OFWs whose airfares he likewise sponsored after
receiving communication from the Embassy of the Philippines in
Amman, Jordan stating the need to repatriate them after they
suffered maltreatment from their Jordanian employers in Jordan.
They were housed at the Filipino Workers
Resource Center in Amman.
“I am pleased to announce that nine Filipinas,
mostly under-age, will be reunited with their families in the
Philippines,” Villar said as he welcomed the Filipinas at the
airport.
In his visit to Jordan in October last year,
Villar intervened for the repatriation of OFWs in distress,
especially the underaged who complained of maltreatment against
their employers. He agreed to shoulder almost $6,000 for the OFWs’
plane fare.
“The OFWs are among the increasing number of
Filipino workers who sought refuge in the embassy after experiencing
maltreatment and harsh conditions from their employers,” he said.
He added that whenever he has the chance to go
out of the country, he makes it a point to visit Philippine
embassies to check on the condition of OFWs in different parts of
the world.
Villar cited the condition of one of the
returnees, Rowena Manalo, 29, married with two children. She arrived
in Amman in 2006 but ran away from her employer due to alleged
maltreatment and insufficient food.
Villar lamented that illegally recruited workers
were able to exit the country through the escort system in the
airport and by using passports with assumed or spurious data.
He learned that illegal recruiters take
advantage of minors from poor areas like Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat
and Cotabato who were born at home and were unable to accomplish the
Certificate of Live Birth.
“Illegal recruiters facilitate the issuance of
a ‘Delayed Registration of Birth Certificate’, and from there,
they manipulate the date of birth to make the minors (appear) older
and qualified for a job abroad,” Villar said.
Earlier, Villar had urged immigration officials
to tighten its effort and stop the continued operations of
syndicated human smugglers in the country who endanger the lives of
Filipinos working abroad.
OFWs who arrived on April 21 were Rahima Isla,
17 (from Parang Bacolod, Cotabato City); Noraisa Tagta, 17, (Parang,
Maguindanao); Marhana Daud, 13, (Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao);
Hanan Kuit, 17, (Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao); Asniah Ulama, 14, (Datu
Montawal, Maguindanao); Alibai Makapending, 17, (Buluan,
Maguindanao); Rowena Manalo, 29, (Novaliches, Quezon City);
Jeanelyn Martinez, 28, (Bacolod City); and Martinez’s daughter,
Jeanil Martinez, 2.
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