Cebuano families seek out the Senate Presidents help:
Villar to bring home distressed OFWs in Riyadh

Senate President Manny Villar arrived in Cebu to be the guest of honor and speaker at the University of the Visayas' (UV) first academic convocation for school year 2008-09 at the Inday Pining Teatro today.

Upon his arrival, he was approached by two Cebuanos from Talamban, Randy and Percival Minoza, to plead for help on behalf of their wives Jovy and Chrisline who want to return to the country due to harsh working conditions in Riyadh.

The husbands of the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have already sought the help of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) but decided to seek out the Senate President, who has initiated an OFW helpline for the benefit of distressed OFWs.

Villar vowed to extend help to the distressed OFWs, in coordination with their families and the DFA, to enable them to be reunited with their loved ones in Cebu.

Harsh conditions faced by OFWs have pushed Villar to actively press for the application of the "no-fault insurance system" for OFWs, a form of indemnity plan in which the injured in an accident or misfortune receives direct payment from the company which they are insured, eliminating the need for victims to establish another's liability or fault through a civil case.

Meantime, during his speech at the UV Convocation, Villar stressed the need to change the Filipino mindset of employment to entrepreneurship to propel the economy so that Filipinos would find no need to go abroad for labor opportunities.

A successful entrepreneur before he entered politics, the Nacionalista Party president recounted how he managed to rise from poverty and selling shrimps in the wet market to become one of Asia's biggest real estate developers.

"We must look for our innate talents and abilities and use them to find our niche," Villar told UV students and academe members.

"I tell those who approach me and say they have no money to start a business that they should not fear because in the first place, walang mawawala sa kanila," he said.

The Senate President said that entrepreneurship is not only challenging but also enjoyable. "It feels good to be independent, to be the captain of the ship, to steer one's course and achieve according to one's aspirations in one's own country," he said.