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2 more batches of Pinoys from Haiti set to arrive


At least 41 more Filipinos are due to arrive home from earthquake-devastated Haiti on Thursday and Friday, Malacañang said Wednesday. A Malacañang statement said a batch of 11 Filipinos is scheduled to arrive Thursday, while another batch of 30 is due to arrive Friday. Expected to escort the first batch on Thursday is Philippine Vice Consul to Havana Jason Anasarias. To escort the second batch is Philippine Ambassador to Havana MacArthur Corsino. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the Departments of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Labor and Employment (DOLE), and Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to assist the returning Filipinos. "Aside from 172 Filipino peacekeepers, there are an estimated 290 overseas Filipino workers in Haiti, mostly occupying middle and upper management positions in the garments, telecommunication, and power generation sectors," the Palace said. Last weekend, 23 Filipinos Haiti were repatriated. Six arrived on January 29, five on January 30 and 12 on January 31. Assistance to repatriates As this developed, the government’s labor department assured that assistance will be extended to the returning OFWs from Haiti. “We will extend whatever assistance is available for them," Labor Secretary Marianito Roque said in a release posted on their agency’s Web site on Wednesday. link to release: http://www.dole.gov.ph/secondpage.php?id=1124 Roque added that he has already directed the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and the regional offices of the Department of Labor and Employment to attend to the needs and welfare of the OFWs. “I have also tasked all the concerned agencies of the Department to conduct a needs assessment analysis to the repatriates to identify the kinds of assistance they need," Roque further stated. Meanwhile, a migrants’ rights group earlier called for the abolition of the OWWA Omnibus policies, which it said limits government assistance only to active members of the agency. “Time and again we have demanded the scrapping of these discriminatory policies of OWWA that limits welfare assistance only to its active members. Such regulation is a disservice to distressed migrants especially those who were forced to be an undocumented worker abroad due to the inability of the government to generate decent jobs here in the country," says Garry Martinez, chairperson of Migrante International, in a statement. According to Migrante, more than a third of the total 477 Filipinos in Haiti are classified as undocumented migrants, while many other OFWs entered Haiti illegally using tourist visas. The OWWA Omnibus Policies were implemented in 2003 to limit the agency’s services and welfare assistance only to OFWs who have active contracts and have paid membership dues to OWWA. “Even if OWWA accommodates undocumented OFWs from Haiti only to show its flexibility would not make the policies of the agency acceptable. On the contrary, it only proves how dysfunctional the OWWA Omnibus Policies are as a guideline in helping OFWs. Once and for all, these policies should be scrapped in order to give assistance to all OFWs, documented or not," Martinez added. - KBK, GMANews.TV

Tags: haiti, haitiquake
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