VP Binay’s office helps 3,949 OFWs, families

By OVP Media
July 23, 2013

MANILA – Vice President Jejomar C. Binay's accomplishment report has revealed that under his leadership, the Office of the Vice President (OVP) has acted on 3,949 requests for assistance from Overseas Filipino Workers and their families since 2010.

These requests ranged from repatriation, assistance on salary and benefits claims, legal assistance for detained OFWs, and grievances against recruiters and agents.

Binay, as Presidential Adviser on Overseas Filipino Workers Concerns, had directed his office to coordinate closely with the Department of Foreign Affairs, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), and Philippine embassies and consulates to respond to these requests.

The Vice President joined President Benigno S. Aquino III and non-government organizations in appealing to Saudi authorities for the release of Rodelio "Dondon" Lanuza.

Lanuza was sentenced to death in Damman, Saudi Arabia for killing a Saudi national, claiming that it was an act of self-defense.

The government secured his release February this year.

“Ito po ay dahil sa kagandahang loob ng hari ng Saudi Arabia na si King Abdullah na naglabas ng isang royal directive na sasagutin ng Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ang balanse ng blood money na hinihingi ng pamilya ng napatay ni Dondon,” said the Vice President.

The balance amounted to SAR 2.3 million, or P24.9 million. Lanuza's family had previously raised SAR 700,000 or P7.5 million for the required blood money.

The Saudi embassy in Manila had released a statement that said Lanuza’s release was “the result of collective efforts including the coordination and cooperation between the Saudi Embassy in Manila and the Office of the Vice President of the Republic of the Philippines as H.E. Vice President Jejomar C. Binay, is the Presidential Adviser on OFW Affairs.”

The OVP, in coordination with the concerned agencies, has also been responsible for the repatriation of a 3-year old boy who was fostered by his mother's friends in Kuwait after she had been deported to the Philippines due to the expiration of her working visa.

Among other OFWs that the OVP had helped were Alfredo Salmos, survivor of an accidental electrocution in Saudi Arabia in 2010; Milagros Villarin, who died of natural causes in her home in Belgium; and the two Filipina maids of the relatives of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

The Vice President's intercession also helped in reconciling the families of OFWs Jonard Langamin and Robertson Mendoza. Langamin was sentenced to death after he killed Mendoza due to a work-related dispute in Saudi. The family of Mendoza forgave Langamin after Binay talked to both families.

The Vice President had also led efforts in repatriating thousands of OFWs in Syria who were affected by the civil war. Most of these OFWs were undocumented.

According to the report, the Vice President’s foreign visits "have also resulted in strengthened relations with the countries he has been to, not to mention the opportunities for employment for his fellow Filipinos."

After Binay's trip to Germany in June, he announced that an initial batch of 50 nurses from the Philippines will be deployed in 2013, with another 500 set to be deployed by 2014.

The deployment is due to the need for healthcare workers in the European country.

The Philippines and Germany previously signed an agreement in Manila to deploy Filipino nurses to the European country last March.

The Vice President also got the assurance of European businessmen that the Philippines' 80,000-strong contingent of seafarers based in Europe will be safe from blacklisting.

News reports have previously circulated that the European Union was set to blacklist the country after it failed to comply with the 1978 International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) in an audit by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA).

European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) Vice President for External Affairs Henry Schumacher also assured Binay that seafarers will continue working in EU flagged vessels.

The Vice President in June had promised that the country was committed to adhering to the STCW requirements.

“It is crucial that we fulfill the requirements, knowing that the jobs of 80,000 of our seafarers in Europe as well as the rest of the 400,000 Filipino seamen in various foreign flagged vessels would be affected if we fail the upcoming EMSA audit,” Binay said.

Binay also announced in 2012 that the ban on Filipino au pairs to Europe since 1997 was lifted after an ad hoc Technical Working Group on au pairs came up with the new "Guidelines on the Departure of Au Pairs to Europe."

“Au pair” is a French term meaning “on par” or “equal to”. Filipinos under the au pair program “live on an equal basis in a reciprocal, caring relationship” with their host families, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). The intent is for the foreigner to be at par or equal to locals, by being treated as a member of the family instead of a domestic servant.

The ban was imposed to reports of maltreatment, unfair compensation, excessive working hours, discrimination and sexual assault, and abuse of the system by illegal recruiters and syndicates.

Binay lauded the ban, saying that it “is sure to bring employment opportunities to Filipinos.”

The Vice President, as chairman emeritus of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) and chair of the Presidential Task Force Against Illegal Recruiters (PTFAIR), instituted changes in 2011 that would help concerned agencies battle the threat of human trafficking.

In 2011, the IACAT drafted new offloading guidelines to prevent suspected victims of human trafficking and illegal recruitment.

Binay also ordered that the changes should also minimize abuse of discretion on the part of immigration officers and respect the right to travel of passengers.

He also ordered the mandatory interviews of Filipinos repatriated abroad.

"We need to determine whether or not repatriated Filipinos were victims of illegal recruitment, to detect patterns of deployment employed by illegal recruiters and trafficking syndicates, and to minimize re-victimization of Filipino irregular OFWs," he said.

Under Binay, the IACAT Operations Center was also created to bolster and coordinate the drive against human trafficking. 1343 Actionline was also launched, providing a venue for individuals to report human trafficking activities locally and overseas.

He commended the passage of the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, which was passed by Aquino February this year.

Binay said the inclusion of attempted trafficking will allow the government to become pro-active rather than reactive in eliminating human trafficking cases and prevent OFWs from being abused.

“The previous law only allowed us to file trafficking in persons cases against perpetrators only after the actual act of trafficking had been committed. Because of this, our kababayans had to be subjected to abuse first before trafficking charges could be filed,” he said.

Binay also revealed that IACAT was able to secure 80 convictions and jailed 99 human traffickers since 2010.

A team dedicated to issuing and monitoring of warrants of arrest of suspected human traffickers in line with the recommendation of the United States State Department Global Trafficking in Persons report was also formed by the IACAT in 2012.

Binay also reported that the Philippines has been on Tier 2 status in the GTIP report under the Aquino administration. It was previously on Tier 2-Watchlist during the Arroyo administration, and in danger of being imposed sanctions on foreign aid by the US.

"We will continue to strive to retain, if not upgrade, our GTIP status and keep our people protected from human trafficking," the Vice President said.

A meeting between Binay and European Commission Home Affairs chief Cecilia Malstrom during the 7th European Development Days in Brussels, Belgium also resulted with the Philippines offering to share its experience in migrant worker protection and anti-human trafficking.

“I informed the commissioner that we have ratified the ILO (International Labour Organization) convention concerning decent work for domestic workers, and pointed out our efforts to protect our OFWs and address the social costs of migration,” said Binay.

“I told the commissioner that as a result of these efforts we have developed perhaps the most advanced infrastructure for protecting our nationals abroad,” he added.