96 distressed OFWs in Poland call for help

Nacionalista Party President Sen. Manny Villar urged Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Esteban Conejos Jr. and Overseas Workers Welfare Administrator Carmelita Dimzon to promptly assist 96 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in distress together and pleading for help in Aleksandrow Lodzki, Poland.

Villar was alarmed that such a big number of OFWs who are currently lumped together in a company where they make glasses for buildings in the Central Europe country expressed their disillusionment.

In a video call yesterday with Villar's office, the OFWs said they were promised "good employment" by their agency in Manila but ended up getting a measly equivalent of P12,000 to P14,000 each as monthly salary in Poland.

The OFWs signed up for a US$500 to $750 contract monthly with their agency in Manila, paid $720 placement and P6,000 additional fee prior to their departure last month, only to realize that the salary rate they would receive could be earned in the Philippines which they had to leave in search of greener pastures.

"Our agency back in the Philippines fooled us regarding our salary," OFW Ronaldo Corpuz lamented, "How can we send money to our families when our passports are now with our employer? Our loved ones are placed in double jeopardy with our absence and with no support."

The migrant workers also aired, "Many of us also incurred loans in the process of applying for this job...and were assured of health coverage which our sick colleagues did not get at all. Aside from compensation problems, a number of us have been sick due to inadequate food provision."

Aside from Corpuz, the OFWs included James Bernal, Marlon Meer, Armel Galapon, Arnaldo Ico, Jefferson Yambao, Ryan Malabuyoc, Salvador Polistico, Abe Borlaza, Ryan Gestoso, Jaime Polintang, Basil Falcunaya, Edgar Barcol, Rodrigo Gundran, Francisco Alvaro Jr., Jonathan Estur, Bartolome Bernal, Romwel Luna, Regie Pijo, Arnel Manlunas, Eric Padua, and others.

The migrant workers were recruited from Metro Manila, Laguna, Batangas, Quezon, Cavite, Bulacan, Tarlac, Pampanga, Zambales, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, Benguet, and Negros Occidental.

Villar said he wants the case immediately attended to, stressing that the global economic crisis calls for greater assistance to our OFWs and not be made as an excuse to dupe them.

At the same time, Villar also asked for government action on the plight of 35 OFWs in Qatar who also sought his help due to non-payment of salaries.

The OFWs, who arrived in Qatar on Oct. 7, 2008, wrote, "Since we started work, our salaries have been always partially given, until such time when we were not getting any for almost three months."

"Nagugutom na ang aming mga pamilya sa Pilipinas (Our families in the Philippines have nothing to eat)," they wept.

Villar has set up a helpline dedicated to OFWs in distress as part of his advocacy for the welfare of Filipino migrant workers while pushing for conducive economic conditions in the country to expand opportunities as a long-term solution.