OFWs recount Lebanon ordeal, share hopes

Over a hundred repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFW) from Lebanon who arrived Tuesday look forward to a brighter new year back home with their loved ones, even as they recounted the harsh working conditions they went through under cruel employers. In GMA News' 24-Oras newscast, the 104 returning OFWs revealed the abuses they underwent, prompting them to escape and seek refuge in a shelter house in Lebanon where they spent Christmas.
For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV “Hindi ako pinapatulog ng mahusay ng una kong amo. Pero yung pangalawa kong amo mabait naman sila kaya lang ‘di naman ako pinapasuweldo," an OFW recounted. (I barely got enough sleep under my first employer. As for my second employer, they were kind but they were not giving me my salary.) “Mga amo doon nire-rape ang mga katulong, kinukulong sa kuwarto, hindi pinapakain. Minsan pinapagtrabaho na sobra-sobra (sa oras)," another repatriate revealed. (Some helpers there get raped by their employers, locked up in rooms, or are not given food. Sometimes they are made to work for long hours.) “Hindi ko naman alam na ganun pala ang mga tao doon. Sabi nila maganda pero hindi naman pala totoo," lamented another OFW. (I didn’t know that people there were like that. They said it’s great to work there; it turns out that it’s not true.) Another OFW disclosed that she was beaten up by her employer when she got back late from her day-off. In a briefing at the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) office, Administrator Carmelita Dimzon asked the repatriates if they would still like to return to Lebanon, to which the workers answered with a resounding “No". Dimzon also reminded the workers against illegal recruiters offering work in Lebanon. “Kung kayo ay may legal na trabaho, dito pa lang may employment visa na kayo dapat. ‘Pag kayo ay paalis as tourist, ibig sabihin isa lang, wala kayong trabaho na nag-aantay na maayos," she told the OFWs. (If you really have a legal job in Lebanon, you should already have an employment visa even before you leave. If you leave the Philippines simply as tourists, that means only one thing, no decent work awaits you in another country.) Earlier, the first batch of repatriates arrived on Monday, which included 45 adults and three infants. The repatriation costs of the two batches were taken from the Department of Foreign Affairs’ (DFA) Assistance to Nationals funds Around 20 more OFWs are still at the shelter house in Lebanon due to pending cases against them filed by their employers, according to the newscast. Meanwhile, the DFA urged the repatriates to consider filing cases against their recruiters in light of the labor deployment ban still in force there. In a release posted on the DFA website, Philippine Ambassador to Lebanon Gilberto G.B. Asuque reminded the returning OFWs that their recruitment in Lebanon was in violation of the deployment ban and they should consider pressing charges against their recruiters. [See: DFA to Second Batch of Repatriates from Lebanon: “File Complaints Against Illegal Recruiters"] The Philippines and Lebanon have yet to sign a memorandum of understanding to establish mechanisms for the protection of the rights and the promotion of welfare of Filipino workers, Asuque said. Asuque also disclosed that the DFA and the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) have offered their assistance and support to the repatriates should they decide to pursue cases against their respective recruiters. Before they left Lebanon, the repatriates formulated and signed affidavits implicating their recruiters. Some of the returning workers initially faced contract violation complaints. Their employers desisted from filing cases against them and also waived their deployment cost after negotiations made by the Philippine Embassy in Lebanon and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration. - Fidel Jimenez and Jerrie M. Abella/JV, GMANews.TV