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IT is often said that politicians and businessmen must have hearts
of steel to become successful in their field. However, I now believe
that Senate President Manuel Villar is an exception. Villar, a
success both as a businessman and as a politician, has a “pusong
mamon,” especially for the underdog and the downtrodden. He showed
this trait once again when he sponsored the return to the
Philippines of 14 abused Overseas Filipino Workers from the Middle
East .
When Villar went to the Middle East, he met a
number of OFWs, mostly females, who had escaped from their abusive
employers. His heart melted upon hearing their tales of woe. They
could not return to the Philippines because the Philippine embassy
or the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration lacked funds
for their airfare.
It is here that Villar acted in his individual
capacity. He could not wait for the government agencies to act as
this would only prolong the OFW’s misery in the land where they
thought they could find milk and honey. He picked nine maltreated
OFWs from Jordan, six of whom were minors, and five from Abu Dabhi
and personally paid for their fare back home. Those from Jordan
returned Monday and those from Abu Dhabi, on Wednesday.
Villar told me that he had been doing similar
moves before but it is only now that he went to the media because
this problem of OFW maltreatment is worsening. He said he would have
sponsored the repatriation of more maltreated OFWs but a number of
them could not obtain any exit permit. He explained that under the
laws of most Arab countries, it is considered a crime for a maid to
run away from her employer regardless of the reason.
One of those who came back courtesy of Villar
confirmed this. Bernadette Romero of Dasmariñas, Cavite said, that
she ran away from her employer of five months because she had not
been paid even once. She said she went to her employment Agency in
Abu Dhabi because she taught they could support her demand for her
rightful pay.
“Instead of supporting me, they asked me to
return and when I refused, they kicked me in the legs and punched me
in the back,” Romero told me when she and four others visited
Villar at his Senate office after returning from Abu Dhabi.
Villar said that a number of maltreated OFWs are
undocumented. Since they did not have papers from the Philippine
Overseas Employment Administration or the Overseas Workers Welfare
Administration, they could have flown out of the country with the
connivance of personnel of regulatory agencies.
He filled Thursday a resolution seeking a Senate
review of the recruitment, anti-human smuggling and immigration laws
of the country after noting the continuing prevalence of illegal
recruitment and abuses suffered by overseas Filipino workers,
particularly females.
He also called for the blacklisting of employers
identified to have abused their Filipino employees. There are almost
8 million OFWS whose remittances in 2007 alone reached more than $7
billion.
ARMM automation not yet a done deal
It is true that Chairman Jose Melo of the
Commission on Elections had given assurances that the poll body
would automate the Aug. 11 election at the Autonomous Region in
Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). This assurance notwithstanding, I am still
doubtful if this could indeed be done.
It must be understood that Melo gave the
assurance after Senators Edgardo Angara and Juan Ponce Enrile said
they would file a joint resolution so that the bidding for the ARMM
automation would be exempted from the stringent provisions of the
Procurement Act. Unlike an ordinary resolution which merely reflects
the sentiments of the approving chamber, a joint resolution has the
force and effect of a law once adopted by both the House and the
Senate. The question now is: Can the Comelec start short-circuiting
the Procurement Act before the adoption of the joint resolution? The
resolution still has to be filed but the May 11 deadline for the
Comelec to complete the bidding process is drawing near.
Let us see now if the Senate feels the sense of
urgency in adopting the joint resolution proposed by Angara and JPE
in Thursday’s meeting of the Joint Congressional Oversight
Committee on the Automated Election System, The oversight committee
is jointed headed by Sen. Richard Gordon and Makati City Rep.
Teddyboy Locsin Both were formerly with the giant ACCRA law office
founded by Angara.
Incidentally, the hearing was marred by an
exchange of word between Gordon and Locsin when Gordon refused to
let Locsin butt in while he was stressing a point. Fortunately, the
two piped down and later, the committee got the desired result from
the Comelec. All’s well that ends well!
efrendanao2003@yahoo.com
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