PHL officials assure Pinoys in Bahrain of aid

Philippine officials in Bahrain reassured Filipinos trapped in the ongoing tension there of continued efforts to come to their aid even as some appealed for help in their repatriation. Ambassador Corazon Bahjin said the Philippine Embassy came to the aid of 24 female overseas Filipino workers trapped in Budaiya, where police operations were ongoing. "I asked the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) to communicate with their recruitment agency in Manila to compel the local employer to surrender the passports of the OFWs to the Embassy, together with the return tickets and their cancelled working visas or face being blacklisted. The Embassy is working on their repatriation," Bahjin said in a news release posted Friday on the Department of Foreign Affairs website. She said the 24 OFWs earlier filed labor complaints against their employer for unpaid salaries, non-payment of overtime services, unfair labor practices, unequal sharing of monthly tips and other offenses. But as this developed, other Filipinos appealed to the Philippine government to help arrange for their repatriation. News site Visayan Daily Star reported that photographer Karen Arevalo, 28, sought help when her mother Desiree called her from the help desk set up by the Office of the Governor in Bacolod City. Arevalo told her mother she is staying in a flat with two other Negros residents in Salmaniya Salihiya in Bahrain. Arevalo, who has worked in Bahrain for two years, said her employer has advised her to stay put and he will deliver her passport to her as soon as he can. She said her two flatmates and fellow photographers – Gladys Hechanova, 23, of Bago City, and Jovette Guimapang, 32, of Valladolid – want to continue to work in Bahrain if the situation there improves. The help desk of the Negros Occidental government has so far allowed calls made to 14 OFWs living in Libya and one to Bahrain, the report said. Bahraini PM assures expats' safety In a separate release, the DFA said the Prime Minister of Bahrain has assured the Philippines and four other countries with significant worker populations there of the safety of their citizens. Bahjin said that Bahraini Prime Minister Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa assured her and the ambassadors of India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Thailand that the country respects the rights of foreigners, and vowed to protect them from harm. The Prime Minister added that Bahrain invited foreigners to work in their country and appreciates their contribution. Bahjin maintained there no reports to date of Filipinos killed or injured amid the tensions there. "As of this time, the Embassy team has not received any reports of Filipinos injured or dead due to the crackdown of protesters in the Pearl Roundabout," the Ambassador said in the release, adding that security forces are not singling out foreigners. She said an Embassy team went to the Awali Hotel where seven Filipinos were allegedly trapped, according to earlier reports, but the hotel turned out to be empty. “The Embassy is operating 24/7 to address the concerns of Filipinos in Bahrain. It is in constant contact with Filipino community members, and the Embassy officers and staff have disseminated their mobile numbers to them for immediate information and coordination," the DFA said. It added that the Bahraini government has shortened the curfew from to 4 pm to 4 am, to 8 pm to 4 am, in areas where protests have been held. The Embassy earlier urged Filipinos to restrict movements, stock up on basic necessities, have important documents ready, and avoid joining or being in areas of protest. It has also asked Filipinos to remain calm, actively monitor ongoing developments, keep their communications lines open with the Embassy and their designated community coordinators, and inform the Embassy or Filipino community coordinators assigned to their area of their whereabouts. Earlier Friday, a team composed of DFA Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (DFA-OUMWA) Executive Director Ricardo Endaya and DFA-OUMWA Principal Assistant Kristine Bautista left for Bahrain to help assess the situation on the ground and re-assess the department’s contingency measures. Figures from the Commission on Filipinos Overseas show there are some 50,000 Filipinos in Bahrain, an overwhelming majority of whom are workers while only 85 are listed as permanent residents. Last Wednesday, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Wednesday again banned the deployment of OFWs in Bahrain in light of the growing political tension there. (See: DOLE bans OFW deployment anew in tense Bahrain) Group hits 'self-repatriation' In a related development, a migrants’ rights advocacy group scored the DFA for asking OFWs in Bahrain to voluntarily leave the country at their own expense. “This is a disservice to the sector that is keeping the economy afloat through their billions of remittances, and the fees and exactions imposed by the government," said Migrante-Middle East coordinator John Leonard Monterona in a release. He said OFWs working in areas where there are violent protests are requesting for assistance from the government precisely because they don’t have the money to purchase their own tickets. He cited the case of an OFW who told Migrante that on March 15, the van they were in was halted by anti-government protesters. The OFW said they had to plead for the protesters, who attempted to shoot them, to let them go, according to Monterona. He added there some 40 OFWs working at Al Areen palace and spa at Sanaad, Bahrain, and about 10 Filipino nurses working for Orthocare clinic, who are asking for assistance from the government. “These OFWs are active members of Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA)… We are certain there is a P100-million repatriation fund in OWWA. Why not use this to provide airplane tickets for those who want to be home because of their worries over their safety in Bahrain and Yemen," Monterona said. OWWA currently collects a membership fee of US$25 (P1,091) from land-based and sea-based workers, paid every two years, which forms the OWWA trust fund . In 2009, OWWA membership fees reached P1.5 billion. The OWWA fund has reached an aggregate amount of P12.5 billion according to OWWA administrator Carmelita Dimzon. The OWWA fund is supposed to be used for programs for OFWs and their families such as education, training, scholarships, health and livelihood; disability and death benefits; and for repatriation during crisis situations. Monterona is thus calling for an accounting of the OWWA fund to ensure that it is spent on programs and services for the welfare of OFWs.—Jerrie M. Abella/JV, GMA News