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Group slams PNoy admin over untapped OFWs legal fund amid numerous request for assistance

Tuesday, August 14, 2012 19:40

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Press Release

15 August 2012

Group slams PNoy admin over untapped OFWs legal fund amid numerous request for assistance

Migrants rights group Migrante-Middle East (M-ME) slammed the Aquino III administration over the untapped legal fund amid the surge of distress overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who need assistance, legal and other related services, saying ‘such constitute a highest form of government neglect’ and ‘the government legal assistance program to OFWs is a failure!”

On Monday during a House budget hearing, no less than Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) secretary Albert Del Rosario confirmed that P52.2 million of the legal assistance fund under the care of his department remained unspent. He added that only P7.78 million was used because of the limitations to the amount imposed by the Migrant Workers Act.

The DFA chief revealed that only 196 overseas workers had availed themselves of the fund from 2011 to August 2012.

Reacting to this, M-ME regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona said his group won’t totally buy the DFA official’s explanation.

“We beg to disagree with the good secretary (referring to DFA Sec. Del Rosario). His agency, being part of the Executive branch, is primarily responsible to implement a provision of the Migrant Workers Act especially about the legal assistance program and the administration of a corresponding fund allotted for that purpose,” Monterona said.

Monterona added that amid the surge of distress OFWs asking for legal assistance, it is prudent that the legal fund must be utilized to provide effective and efficient services to distress OFWs who are facing charges and those who have filed cases to seek for redress.

“Obviously, it’s not a question of having no fund. It is a question of a properly allotted government fund not being utilized. And it showed the government’s ineffectiveness and inefficiency in handling the legal assistance program, which is a failure!” Monterona added.

“Every time the kin of distress OFWs go to DFA-OUMWA to ask for legal assistance, they were told there’s no fund or the OFW case would not qualify for the granting of legal assistance,” Monterona noted.

Monterona cited for instance the request of the kin of OFWs on death row in Saudi Arabia. “As to our count, there are 8 of them on death row, aside from more than a thousand in jail charge of petty crimes some of them victim of trumped up charges, requesting legal assistance specifically a local lawyer who would defend and represent them in court. We do not know if their request for legal assistance were already granted.”

Monterona added: “Granting that there is limitation imposed by the law on the amount to be used depending on the nature of legal assistance asked, the DFA should have long been recommended the amendment of that provision of the Migrant Workers Act.”

“The Migrant Workers Act does not specifically imposed limitation on the amount of legal assistance, it is rather its implementing rules and regulations (IRR) that was crafted and subsequently approved by the DFA and other concerned agencies involved in the crafting of the IRR,”Monterona added.

Monterona, however, agrees to the DFA chief’s proposal to review the limitation on the amount of fund to be used that he said must be on the top to-do list of the department.

“The primary consideration is to provide efficient and effective legal aid to thousands distress OFWs by fully utilizing the allotted fund. In fact, we are campaigning for additional funds so as more distress OFWs will be given legal assistance,” Monterona concluded. # # #

Reference:

John Leonard Monterona, regional coordinator

Migrante-Middle East

Mobile No. 00974 33 20 5565 / 0063 923 420 0112

2012-08-14 19:34:21

Source: http://migranteme.blogspot.com/2012/08/group-slams-pnoy-admin-over-untapped.html

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