Regional task force mulls charges vs. OWWA on OFW repatriations

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

The regional office of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) might face administrative and criminal charges for allegedly mishandling the repatriation of stranded Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) to Western Visayas.

Western Visayas Regional Task Force on COVID-19 (WVRTF) spokesperson Atty. Roy Villa confirmed with Daily Guardian that the WVRTF resolved in its April 30, 2020 meeting to suspend the repatriation of OFWs who are stranded in various parts of the country amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis.

Villa said the regional task force saw that the process undertaken by authorities in Manila in the repatriation process was problematic.

He cited the nine OFWs who tested positive for COVID-19 using the rapid antibody testing. The results are undergoing confirmation using the more reliable RT-PCR testing.

These OFWs are part of the batch that arrived April 29 and were then taken to a hotel in Iloilo City for further testing and quarantine.

Villa said they doubt if the OFWs underwent testing before they were allowed to go home, as earlier protocols mandated.

“The [WVRTF] has resolved to suspend the repatriation of our OFWs into the region. This was because the task force saw that the procedure of letting the OFWs board the vessels, including the testing, were unreliable and we couldn’t trust them. Our example is that of the nine OFWs who arrived here in Iloilo and had tested positive for COVID-19 through rapid testing, although that is still subject to confirmatory testing,” Villa said.

Villa also chided the OWWA as he confirmed reports that food intended for the OFWs on Friday were not delivered to them.

“Today, there was another incident regarding the OFWs regarding their food. The provider had backed out and the hotel staff had stated that they will not serve food. We did not see the OWWA-6 anywhere in the picture during that situation today. In fact it was [Office of Civil Defense Regional Director Jose Roberto Nuñez], the chairperson of the [WVRTF] who had attended to their needs in coordination with the Iloilo City Government and the Iloilo Provincial Government,” he said.

Villa said that the OWWA-6 did not show readiness in the repatriation processes.

“The OWWA here in Region 6 does not show or demonstrate that they are ready for the orderly and safe repatriation of the OFWs. Until those concerns are addressed, which involves public safety and orderly process of repatriation, we suspended accepting OFWs who are being repatriated from Manila, Cebu City and other parts of the country,” he said.

He said that they had already raised their concerns with the OWWA during the recent meeting.

“We’ve raised this with the OWWA for the nth time. We’ve already raised these concerns again with them during the meeting [on April 30], and it seems that they don’t care about the situation. They keep saying that they do not know and that they will discuss on it internally. That’s precisely why we have suspended the repatriation. OWWA does not seem to show that it is shaping up. They’re not ready to do this,” he said.

Villa stated that the WVRTF will meet again on Saturday to discuss the system of attending to the needs of the OFWs.

He said that members of the WVRTF may move to pursue administrative and criminal charges against the OWWA.

“[The WVRTF] will meet again [on May 2] in order to discuss the system in attending to the needs of our OFWs who are quarantined in a hotel here in Iloilo City. We do not really see a clear-cut and concrete solution. During the upcoming meeting, we might even move to seek action against OWWA-6 to hold them administratively and criminally liable for their negligence,” he said.

Daily Guardian made multiple attempts to reach OWWA-6 Officer-in-Charge Lea Aguirre but she has not responded as of this writing.

 

CITY, PROVINCE REACT

In a post on his official Facebook page, Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas expressed disappointment with the “mistreatment” of the OFWs.

“It saddens me to know that they didn’t take care of you. They told me that the local person you coordinated will take care of you. That’s why I did not bother anymore. Now I cannot just sit down and wait for the same event to happen again. As the father of Iloilo City, we will take care of your food, goods and hygiene kits,” Treñas said.

Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. said that the province is coming up with measures to help the OFWs, which will be taken up with the WVRTF and provincial mayors.

“I just met with our Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Cluster here at the Capitol, and there are measures that we will undertake in the next 48 hours but they’re premature because we have to level off with the [WVRTF]. The work put into this repatriation, as we have planned from the start, was meant to be a collaborative effort from the [WVRTF], but there needs to be reforms on that. Tomorrow, we will meet with the [WVRTF] and we will address the concern. But in the provincial level, we’ve already discussed that we will be taking up measures to improve the situation of our OFWs but I cannot tell right now unless it is finalized because we will still have to coordinate with the IATF and with our mayors,” the governor said.