P11.5-B OFW fund fully intact — OWWA chief

The head of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) yesterday assured that the fund being maintained by the agency to be used to provide for the needs of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) is intact even as amounts of it are placed in investments.

In a media briefing in Malacañang, OWWA Administrator Carmelita Dimzon sought to allay the concern aired by Sen. Loren Legarda over the fund, which has already reached P11.5 billion.

Legarda on Sunday said she plans to file a resolution in the Senate seeking for an inquiry where she would ask the OWWA to account for the fund that is being maintained by the agency through “contributions” from OFWs.

The OWWA requires each OFW to pay $25 for the fund before leaving for abroad .

According to Dimzon, the fund has not been “touched” and portions of it are deposited in the state-owned Development Bank of the Philippines and the Land Bank of the Philippines while other parts of it still are also invested in government securities.

She said it can be tapped anytime by the government for use to provide financing for the granting of livelihood of retired, retrenched or suddenly out of work OFWs.

She added it could also be utilized for the repatriation of OFWs who were displaced by war in the places they are employed, or those sent home due to severe ailment or due to the sudden closure of the firm they were employed owing to the global financial crisis.

The fund can also be used to pay for the plane fare of OFWs who are being repatriated after experiencing trouble with their employers or who died abroad, Dimzon moreover said.

At the Usapang OFW forum aired over dzMM radio station and Cable news channel ANC Sunday, Legarda said it was time for the OWWA to be made to account for the OFW fund, which apparently is not being used according to its intention: For the benefit of OFWs.

She said aside from filing the resolution in the Senate, she will, this week, start asking OWWA officials to account for the OFW funds, including the interests it has generated from deposits and investments.

During the forum, an OFW scored the OWWA, saying OFWs do not actually benefit from their contributions to the government agency.

Legarda said she herself has proof of such claim, when during a recent trip of hers to Malaysia, she personally paid out of her own pocket for the air fare of 12 Filipino women who wanted to return home after they were forced by their recruiter to go into prostitution.

She moreover said many OFWs in the Middle East and from other parts of the world have also asked her office for help on their problems, mostly about finances.

The same OFW in the forum also bewailed that OFWs do not have any control nor say on how “their money” kept in the fund is to be spent as they are not even represented in the OWWA board.

Meanwhile, Dimzon reminded OFWs to always renew their OWWA membership, which expires after their two-year contract.

She said this is needed for the OFWs to be able to avail of the maximum P50,000 loan assistance to OFWs who lost their jobs due to the global financial crisis.

Dimzon said this loan program is part of the Labor department’s Comprehensive Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program under the P100-million Filipino Expatriate Livelihood Support Fund which President Arroyo set up as livelihood loan assistance program for displaced Filipino expatriates.

Under the law, the OWWA is also authorized to pay for the repatriation tickets of displaced member-workers, Dimzon noted.

For affected non-members, OWWA can only provide airport assistance, inland transportation, temporary board and lodging, medical services and counseling, among others, she explained.

With their two million members, Dimzon is encouraging other OFWs to voluntarily renew their OWWA membership at their 17 regional offices or at the 36 OWWA welfare offices worldwide.

“We encourage them to re-enroll to maintain active status as OWWA members,” she said.

Presently, there are about 8-10 million Filipinos working in various countries abroad. –with a report from PNA