Should all OFW's in Lebanon be evacuated?

[herzabarJR]

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Filipinos are evacuating from the Philippines.

if they're only fleeing Lebanon to return to the Philippines and join the hungry millions, ambot lang.

hehehehe.. Your Filpinos are evacuating from the Philippines statement is funny but quite true....
There should be a thread titled "Should all Filipinos in the Philippines be evacuated??"

[reibac]

sad, very sad. they are called modern heroes. they are one of the hope in our economy, remitting P20 billion
in our country. and now they can hardly get out of that danger.

remember that PGMA promised to enhanced the skills of the Filipinos to work abroad, then withdrawal was tough!

[istoryador]

Its been 4 weeks after the conflict and still our Filipino workers are still trapped in Lebanon groping for help. The Coast guard plan to send ships but balked because of the cost at 92 Million pesos.

which brings us back to what really happened to the OWWA fund. If OFWs were paying OWWA fees where is the money?

Glue-ria Arroyo has now realized her folly of heeding the advised of then Philheath Manager now DOH Secretary Francisco Duque. Duque sent a Memo to Glue-ria Arroyo that transferring of OWWA funds would have a significant bearing on the 2004 elections.

[center]“The proposed transfer will have a significant bearing on the 2004 elections. I will be available to explain in greater detail the far-reaching implications of the transfer. May I ask that we meet personally?” Duque told the President in that memo.[/center]

No wonder Duque is now the health secretary. The Cabinet post was his reward for that brilliant idea.

[herzabarJR]

Its been 4 weeks after the conflict and still our Filipino workers are still trapped in Lebanon groping for help. The Coast guard plan to send ships but balked because of the cost at 92 Million pesos.

This is the DUMBEST idea I have ever heard.... Coast Guard Ships Our Coast Guard have Blue Water ships now? Our navy doesnt even have Blue Water ships, how much more the Coast Guard? The latest ships our Navy have are the Peacock Class bought from the British, which is a Brown Water ship, designed to patrol the coasts of Hong Kong. Our Coast Guard has Patrol Craft Fast which is too small, usa lng kasagpa ug dakong bawd, mo balitok na... Or maybe they are talking about the SAR ship which is bigger...

Lets pretend that our Coast Guard indeed has this capability.. How many days or even months the ship will arrive in Lebanon?? Mahuman na tingali ang gubat inig abot...

[istoryador]

Funds transferred to Smokey Mountain and PhilHealth, records show

OWWA fund juggling confirmed by CoA

http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/20060808hed1.html
By Angie M. Rosales

08/08/2006



Charges of alleged juggling of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) funds held in trust by Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) dating back to the Ramos administration, was established yesterday by Senate investigators with two sectors, the Commission on Audit (CoA) and a non-government organization claiming the same findings, based on documents culled by the two agencies.

At least half a billion pesos was shown to have been illegally used when OWWA was made to engage in the Smokey Mountain housing development project while another P500 million or exactly P530 million of its funds was transferred to PhilHealth amid objections by some board members representing land- and sea-based migrant workers.

This piece of information corroborates an earlier expose made by Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago during a privilege speech a few years ago concerning a project undertaken by R-II Builders Inc. of businessman Reghis Romero.

Worth of the said project, to date, has already ballooned to at least P1 billion and the government, “technically” is yet to recoup both investments and interest earnings although the principal amount had been “reimbursed” to OWWA by another government agency, the Home Insurance Guarantee Corp. (HIGC).

The HIGC stood as the “guarantor” to the amount OWWA “loaned” to enable R-2 Builders to undertake the Smokey Mountain Development and Reclamation Project, in joint joint venture with the National Housing Authority as the land owner.

Alongside this development, Senate probers learned there is “available” P7.1 billion OWWA funds currently deposited in Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank), P3.2 billion, in Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) billion and P703 million in various banks.

Senators sitting as members in the panel chaired by Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, upon hearing the testimonies given by Connie Regalado of Migrante International, and attested by OWWA resident auditor Gemiliano Maloles, were at a loss on why there is a squabble over the availability of funds needed for the repatriation of OFWS stranded in Lebanon.

“This investigation occurred because during the height of the Lebanon crisis , the (Philippine) embassy (in Beirut) complained that there are no funds available…the rumors again on this issue that there’s no money came about recently and then here it shows that there is over P7 billion in funds. So OWWA has funds. Then why is it (it is) so parsimonious in giving funds?” asked Sen. Joker Arroyo.

Senators were told by

[jugs_06]

This is the DUMBEST idea I have ever heard.... Coast Guard Ships Our Coast Guard have Blue Water ships now? Our navy doesnt even have Blue Water ships, how much more the Coast Guard? The latest ships our Navy have are the Peacock Class bought from the British, which is a Brown Water ship, designed to patrol the coasts of Hong Kong. Our Coast Guard has Patrol Craft Fast which is too small, usa lng kasagpa ug dakong bawd, mo balitok na... Or maybe they are talking about the SAR ship which is bigger...

Lets pretend that our Coast Guard indeed has this capability.. How many days or even months the ship will arrive in Lebanon?? Mahuman na tingali ang gubat inig abot...

wehehehe.. mao nay giingon og..

"you wish!!"

[pridi]

This is the DUMBEST idea I have ever heard.... Coast Guard Ships Our Coast Guard have Blue Water ships now? Our navy doesnt even have Blue Water ships, how much more the Coast Guard? The latest ships our Navy have are the Peacock Class bought from the British, which is a Brown Water ship, designed to patrol the coasts of Hong Kong. Our Coast Guard has Patrol Craft Fast which is too small, usa lng kasagpa ug dakong bawd, mo balitok na... Or maybe they are talking about the SAR ship which is bigger...

Lets pretend that our Coast Guard indeed has this capability.. How many days or even months the ship will arrive in Lebanon?? Mahuman na tingali ang gubat inig abot...

mao jud... got word that DFA didn't gave the permission sa coast guard, kay mo abot kuno ug 15 days ang travel time and basin dako kaau ang ma gasto.

pa hero2x pud ning coast guard da, gi kataw-an rman gani cla sa abu sayyaf atong pag kidnap nila sa dos palmas kay hinay ra kuno ilang gisakyan.... pwede cguro ang abu sayyaf nalang ang i contact sa gobyerno para maoy mukuha sa mga OFW didto....

[baron]

Funds are available. Sen. Joker Arroyo himself states that during the Senate hearing, it was proven that OWWA HAS FUNDS, amounting to over P7 billion. As what he said, it would be better if they would first evacuate Filipinos in Lebanon rather than conduct investigations now which could not help in any way the situation of our Filipinos there.

More so, Secretary Duque and Secretary Sto. Tomas stated that they will resign their respective posts if ever there will be proof that they have misappropriated the funds.

[wanderlust]

The government should evacuate all those who wish to be repatriated, but there are those who prefer to stay in Lebanon. The best the government can do for them would be to ensure their safety.

[istoryador]

Funds are available. Sen. Joker Arroyo himself states that during the Senate hearing, it was proven that OWWA HAS FUNDS, amounting to over P7 billion. As what he said, it would be better if they would first evacuate Filipinos in Lebanon rather than conduct investigations now which could not help in any way the situation of our Filipinos there.

More so, Secretary Duque and Secretary Sto. Tomas stated that they will resign their respective posts if ever there will be proof that they have misappropriated the funds.

Available ba kamo? Eh bakit 130 million lang ang pinadala. Its not even katiting to the 7 billion that our OWWA execs are peddling. Why that kakarampot amount for our OFWs.

If they have that money then they shoul have charetered the Super Ferry to fetch those OFWs.

Compare that to the US in the first week of the Lebanon war, it evacuated close to 10,000 American citizens. It immediately chartered ships to bring the evacuees to Cyprus. The US government brought in a Marine contingent to assist the evacuees at the port of Beirut. France, the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden and other European countries did the same.

What did we do? After seven days, we sent special envoy Roy Cimatu and Undersecretary Rafael Seguis to organize the evacuation by land.

On the 25th day, the land route to Damascus was closed by Israeli bombs. Now GMA decides to evacuate all the 28,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) left. How? Still not by hiring a ship in the area but by sending two old Coast Guard vessels that will reach Beirut in 15-16 days. This is to be done by a government that is boasting of projects costing trillions of pesos.